Bollywood Comes To The North East

The first Bollywood film to be shot in the north of England for 15 years, 'Kaun Bola?' has begun filming in Newcastle.
'Kaun Bola?', which translates as 'Who Spoke?', will see Bollywood legends Arshad Warsi and Diya Mirza filming a series of spectacular dance and stunt scenes on location in Newcastle.
The team behind the film, a Hindi romantic drama about the journey of a young man who finds he can talk to spirits, said they were attracted to the region because of the range of locations and the ease of filming there.
Lee Alliston, Location Manager on 'Kaun Bola?', said: "I knew that councils in the North East had signed a filming friendly partnership charter to make filming easier, and, touch wood, so far it has turned out brilliantly.
"The police and the council in Newcastle and other parts of the region have been great. We work on really tight schedules and in other parts of the country, especially London, it is often very slow or impossible to get permission to film."
They were helped to plan the shoot by staff from Northern Film & Media, regional screen agency for the north east of England - the organisation behind the Filming Friendly Partnership.
Gayle Woodruffe, Location Service Manager at Northern Film & Media, said: "Arshad and his team filming in Newcastle is excellent news for the north east. Incoming production brings an average of £7 million to the region each year. Local people and businesses benefit and the region gets a great deal of exposure.
"We intend to ensure that the production company and those who work with them have a good experience and we hope to welcome them to the region again in the future."
It is intended that the filming will be celebrated with a variety events for the whole community, including a Bollywood-style dancing evening and a cricket match between the Lord Mayor's Eleven and a Bollywood Eleven.
Filming on 'Kaun Bola?' is expected to last until August 15.
Further information is available at: www.northernmedia.org
(KMcA)