Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Tollywood's Malaysian Obsession


Watch any latest film promo and you can see the lead pair either prancing around the Petronas or romancing at the Kuala Lumpur airport. With Australia banned due to the racist attacks, and Europe and the US ruled out due to recession, Tollywood is eyeing just one destination now — Malaysia. stunning locales, friendly tourism policies and easy-on-the-pocket prices, Malaysia is attracting just about every producer from mana tinsel town.


Recent hits like Kick, Mitrudu, Billa and Prayanam were all shot in Malaysia. That’s not all, lead pairs in forthcoming releases like Current and Raju-Maharaju too are now running around trees in Malaysian locales.


V. Suresh Reddy, co-producer, Kick, starring Ravi Teja and Illeana, says, “We camped for over a month there. I think Malaysia worked well for the film as it has beautiful locales. The landscape added to the movie’s overall appeal.”


But there’s more to this trend than just love for natural beauty. “Malaysia is an obvious choice these days as shooting there works out 20 per cent cheaper,” adds Suresh Reddy.
Chandrasekhar Yeleti, director of Prayanam, agrees that shooting in Malaysia is lighter on the pocket.


“I wanted to shoot my movie in a huge airport, but European airports proved to be too expensive. Malaysia was the apt locale on both counts. The charges were reasonable and authorities gave us permission easily. About 40 of us went there to shoot.”
Such is the craze that Tollywood producers are now writing their stories around Malaysia. In Billa, Prabhas is a don operating from Malaysia and Prayanam is a story where Manoj falls in love at the Malaysian airport. And in Kick, Illeana is an Indian girl settled in Malaysia. The dancers and stunt men from there are also popular.What’s more, the fact that the country gives permission to shoot easily is an added bonus. “They are lenient when it comes to granting permissions for chase sequences and dances too.


In fact, we even shot scenes right in front of the Prime Minister’s office. Their film-tourism policy is something that makes life easy for Telugu filmmakers,” adds Suresh Reddy.

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