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Bollywood comes to the North East

The first Bollywood film to be shot in the region for fifteen years, Kaun Bola?, began filming in Newcastle on 16 July.

Kaun Bola? - which translates as Who Spoke? - is a Hindi romantic drama about the journey of a young man who finds he can talk to spirits. The filming 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 were attracted to the North East by the range of outstanding locations and the ease of filming in the region.

Lee Alliston, location manager on Kaun Bola, says: “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.

Gayle Woodruffe, location service manager at Northern Film & Media, says: “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 of community events, including a Bollywood-style dancing evening and a cricket match between the Lord Mayor’s Eleven and a Bollywood Eleven.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .