Bollywood Goes to Bern as Swiss Woo Indian Tourists With Movies
By Hugo Miller
Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Bollywood actor Ashutosh Rana slips between two fast-moving trams on a busy square in Bern, Switzerland, turns around and looks coolly into the camera through blue-tinted sunglasses.
The 40-year-old actor's action adventure ``Kshana Kshana,'' or ``Moment by Moment,'' is just the sort of film Switzerland wants Indian producers to shoot, showing ordinary Helvetian life. Many Bollywood films shot in Switzerland camouflage the location, casting its mountains and valleys as Kashmir because the war-torn north Indian state is too dangerous for filmmakers.
Now, Switzerland is asking the world's most prolific film industry to play a role in the revival of its 23 billion franc ($18.5 billion) tourism trade by shooting movies in identifiably Swiss locations to lure Indian visitors. India's expanding middle class has more money to spend and a desire to travel.
``We want producers to do more than just shoot three song scenes in Switzerland,'' said Cyril Jost, head of Film Location Switzerland, the country's film commission, based in Vevey, where Charlie Chaplin made his home. ``If producers shoot trains, alpine villages and towns in Switzerland, that will encourage Indian tourists to come to the country.''
To attract Indian producers, Switzerland's film-promotion agency is offering Indian filmmakers free scouting trips to remote mountaintops and lesser-known locations. The package was to be unveiled last night at a soiree at the Taj Lands End hotel in Mumbai's film district.
Bollywood Magic
Bollywood churns out as many as 1,000 movies a year, mostly tearjerkers with sari-clad heroines and hip-swinging song-and- dance routines. More than 200 Indian films have been shot in Switzerland over the past two decades, with the country making its first appearance in the 1964 movie ``Sangam.''
The Indian film industry's magic may have already begun to work on Switzerland's tourism. A quarter of a million Indians visited the country of 7.5 million people last year, almost triple the number a decade earlier, Swiss government tourism data shows.
Overnight stays by Indians in the first five months of this year were up 19 percent, while the total number of overnight stays in Switzerland shrank on average by 1 percent a year from 2000 to 2005.
``It's a fact that Indian movies have attracted Indians to Switzerland in the tens of thousands,'' Jost said. ``We are interested in Indian productions that will have a further impact on tourism.''
Sizzling Growth
India's economy grew an average of 8.1 percent annually in the past three years. The number of millionaires in the world's second-most populous country rose by 19 percent last year, more than double the pace worldwide, according to a report by Merrill Lynch & Co. and Cap Gemini.
``The growing wealth in India makes travel a priority in their lifestyles,'' said Federico Sommaruga, head of the India section at the Swiss Tourism Board in Zurich.
Switzerland, where tourism accounts for 5 percent of the economy, wants to tap into that pool of funds.
The 5,000-Swiss-franc ($4,080) Bollywood package Switzerland is unveiling will pay for a filmmaker's flight from India, a week's lodging and a driver and van to scout for sites.
To qualify, the film needs to shoot recognizable landmarks and include Swiss flags or famous hotels, not just landscapes. Movies where the story is set in Switzerland get preferential treatment over productions where only a ``dream sequence'' is shot in the country.
`Not Alone'
The package also reflects Switzerland's effort to lure back producers looking elsewhere. At end of the 1990s as many as 30 films a year were partially shot in the alpine country. Last year only half that number came, Jost said.
Ireland, the location for ``Braveheart'' in 1994 and Steven Spielberg's ``Saving Private Ryan'' in 1997, is luring Bollywood. More than 10 Indian epics have been shot in Ireland since 2002, including ``Kaiyou Kai,'' and ``Sukoon,'' their Web sites show.
``Normally we get between eight and 15 shoots each year,'' said Jean Pierre Francioli, a manager at Gstaad, Switzerland- based travel operator Tritten Reisen. Only one shoot has hired Tritten this year, he said.
``We are no longer alone,'' Francioli said.
Switzerland, where 30 percent of foreign requests for film shoots come from India, according to Jost, says its public transportation system and short distances will keep it an ideal location for filmmakers. Many producers agree.
``You can finish a 20-day shoot in India in nine days here,'' said Sunil Desai, director of ``Kshana Kshana.'' ``Within 50 kilometers, you have lakes, mountains, glaciers and big commercial complexes,'' he said. ``No doubt Indian tourists will be coming more.''
More Indian filmmakers are asking to shoot in Swiss cities including Geneva, Zurich and Bern, as depictions of luxury lifestyles become more important for their audiences.
``Indian film is changing,'' said Aditya Singh, the 26-year- old co-star of ``Kshana Kshana.'' ``Indians want to see more of this.''
For Switzerland, the trick will be translating more cinemagoers into tourists.
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