Kolkata, Oct 3 (Agency) Interacting with the film fraternity, Tourism Minister of Uttarakhand Satpal Maharaj has said many attractive facilities are being provided under Uttarakhand film policy. ‘’We are continuously working to facilitate and develop more and more infrastructure for producers and directors interested in coming to our state for their film projects. The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) had participated in the International Travel & Tourism Fair happening in Worli, Mumbai. The reason behind participating in fair is to promote Uttarakhand as an ideal location for shooting for films and for tourists to experience the ‘Devbhoomi’.’’
Around 33 production houses were present to meet the Minister of Tourism. Some of the renowned production houses that came for meeting with the Minister are Dharma Production, Mahesh Kothare, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Balaji Telefilms, Bhansali production, Endemol Shine India, Jio Studio, Salman Khan Ventures, Mx Player, Rajshree Production. This meeting aimed to promote Uttarakhand as an ideal destination for film shooting. Recently a Man vs. Wild was shot in Uttarakhand where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen with Bear Grylls. The super hit movies that were shot in the past to this beautiful state are Madhumati, Bheegi Raat, Kati Patang, Lakshya, Kedarnath, Student of the Year, Batti Gul Meter Chalu and so on. Some of the tourist attractions of Uttarakhand are Corbett National Park, Char Dham, Rishikesh, Ranikhet and pilgrimage locations like Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri are seeing a surge of interest.
The state government is looking at developing new locations in Uttarakhand for explorers and the film fraternity. As a state, it is the continuing effort of UTDB to make the experience of shooting in Uttarakhand a smooth and seamless process, and towards the same, they have welcome suggestions and inputs from the film fraternity. The delegation has invited production houses to visit Uttarakhand, explore different locations of the beautiful state and avail the facilities of the film policies government is offering and shoot their films in Uttarakhand. The first policy took shape in 2015 and since then the same has been reviewed and developed with time. There are astonishing stories of people and villages in Uttarakhand on which UTDB want production houses to do research & shoot biographies.
The government is giving concessions to the production houses that come for film shoots and wanted to know what more can be done for them to promote Uttarakhand as an ideal location for shooting not just for Bollywood but also for Hollywood. Secretary of Tourism & Information, Dilip Jawalkar, said, “Uttarakhand has immense potential for film shooting. We are always open for producers and directors to come and visit especially the unexplored destination of Uttarakhand. The state has also introduced single-window permission for production houses.”