Kerala out to woo B'wood, H'wood

Kochi: Beaches, backwaters, hill stations and other exotic locales of Kerala will soon woo Bollywood and Hollywood filmmakers.

The state Tourism Department has conducted a survey of ideal shooting spots in Kerala and will soon be launching CDs and brochures, which will feature information like the time the sun rises and sets and the best time for a shoot, Tourism Director, B Suman said.

The CD would be launched on October 15 at Mumbai at the Film Locale Event, which is a platform to showcase exotic destinations for film shooting, he said.

At least 25 places, including Ottappalam, Munnar, Kumarakom have been selected and pictures of these locales have been included in the CD.

Earlier, Kerala was never a hot favourite of filmmakers due to lack of availablity of infrastructural facilities for shooting.

"Till five years ago, Kerala did not even have an OB (Outside Broadcast) van. But things were different now," he said.

Recently, Kerala has been teeming with big stars with Amitabh Bachchan's month-long stay in Munnar for the shoot of Ram Gopal Varma's Nishbad.

Aishwarya Rai was also here for shooting a song sequence of the Mani Ratnam film Guru.

The Tourism Department's plan to rope in Bachchan and Aishwarya as brand ambassadors to promote the state has not yet succeeded with the government yet to give the green signal.

Kerala also had plans to launch a Kerala shopping festival on the lines of Dubai shopping festival next year.

As a prelude to it, the Tourism Department would be organising a shopping festival at Kozhikode to boost the northern Malabar region.

Another area Kerala was looking at was positioning itself as a wedding and honeymoon destination, as many tourists, including those from abroad, are keen to exchange wedding vows in exotic locales.

The state also had in mind plans to create an ideal Honeymoon destination as Kerala can roll out at least four "experiences" - hills, backwaters, beaches, and Ayurveda - all on a single trip.

During the past one year, at least 40 to 45 foreign couples have come to Kerala to tie the knot, he said.

There are wedding tour operators, who provide services like arranging flowers, elephants, drummers, garlands, bridal wear, photography, wedding feast and even guests.