By Alok Joshi
Sitting thousands of miles away and hearing something good about my home state is always music to my ears. And when it comes from a renowned film producer-director-actor of the stature of Anant Mahadevan, that too during the proceedings of the International Film Festival, currently underway in Goa, it is like icing on the cake.
I happened to watch a small video clipping of the event, titled “Building a film-friendly Uttarakhand- Initiatives, Incentives and role of Stakeholders” wherein Anant Mahadevan shares highlights of his recent “happy” experience of shooting his film “Passt Tense” in Uttarakhand.
He makes a special mention of our own Satish Sharma as “the” man who made everything happen. Anant told the big audience that he has travelled to different parts of the world, be it Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius or London and different states in India to shoot films. But his Uttarakhand experience was unique and in a different league altogether. Instead of the traditional Line or Executive Producer coming forward to manage film production, it was Satish Sharma who took the responsibility, as a specialist Consultant. Just on the basis of the script, he short-listed locations in Dehradun, Mussoorie and Rishikesh, which surprisingly came very close to the locations Anant had visualised for his scenes. For a Film Producer who has every penny at stake, appropriate locations save time, cost and add immense value to the movie. With an ensemble of busy actors of his film like Paresh Rawal, Adil Hussain and many others, he had to ensure tight schedules and discipline.
Incidentally, the film also marks the launch of Aditya Rawal, son of Paresh Rawal. This experience made him realise that finding the right nodal person like Satish Sharma, who is film literate, was very critical to the success of film shooting. They worked very closely, and the film was shot smoothly in 40 days.
Apart from talking about other beautiful locations and ease of shooting films with the support of local authorities, Anant had some excellent suggestions in order to make Uttarakhand an attractive film shooting destination. It is important to solicit feedback of producers and directors after the film has been shot. They will provide valuable insights into what was good, what was working and what corrective steps can be taken to attract and invite filmmakers from outside. There should also be a free app of Uttarakhand that gives comprehensive information about locations for film shooting, hotels and contact points so that potential filmmakers know what to expect before making up their minds. These are suggestions worth implementing right away.
Uttarakhand has been known as a religious and tourist destination so far. Now we are getting closer to getting another feather in her cap – a film-shooting destination.
Alok Joshi is an HR Advisor, freelance writer and author of “12 Sweet and Sour Years in China”
