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Pondy on a roll

LIGHTS, CAMERA Shooting in progress in Puducherry

Popular for its beach, perpendicular streets, Mother’s ashram and much more, Puducherry is now also a favourite destination of feature and ad filmmakers. The reason: . picturesque locations, easy permits and low costs. In fact, the European-styled architecture and lanes with an old world charm are major attractions. Apart from the boulevard areas, the parks, heritage churches and lakes are also popular shooting spots in this coastal town.

“In the 1990’s, a film starring a popular actor was shot here but it failed miserably. So, filmmakers kept away from Puducherry thinking that their films would meet the same fate. Of course, some advertising commercials were shot here off and on. But, all this has changed now,” says actor and Puducherry shooting coordinator G. S. Ravichandar.

Starting with “Minnale” in 2000, films such as “Mounam Pesiathe” starring Suriya, “Raman Theediya Seethai”, with Cheran in the lead, and “Kadhalil Vizhunthaen” have been shot in the coastal town. “A few scenes of Gautham Menon’s “Varanam Ayiram” have also been shot here,” he adds. Not just Tamil movies, a number of Hindi flicks have also been shot here. The most prominent about being the John-Bipasha starrer “Jism”, which saw the hot couple gyrating on the beaches of this coastal town.

“Most of the shootings happen in the boulevard areas (known for their European structures), beach, Bharathi Park, Botanical Gardens, railway station, Ariyankuppam beach, Chunnambar boat house and the harbour. Even ad makers from Mumbai have started coming to Puducherry.

Interestingly, permission for shooting 46 films and ads were given from April to September this year. The trend is increasing, notes a government official, adding, “This is mainly due to low tariffs, easy procedures for permission and beautiful locations.” Says Ravichander, “The accommodation is less expensive and the town is not too crowded. Also, the people are warm and welcoming.He thinks it would be a good idea to set up a film city in Puducherry.

Mathew Samuel, Director of Tourism, looks at the trend in two ways. “First, the film and ad crew are basically tourists here. They come to Puducherry, stay here and, thereby, generate revenue. Then, films serve as enormous vehicles to promote Puducherry as a tourism destination. They project the beauty of town and encourage more and more people visit it,” he says.

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