In anticipation of Orange

Genelia D’Souza and Ram Charan were recently shooting in Melbourne for Orange, their upcoming Telegu movie. The film crew received an unexpected surprise as Opposition leader Ted Baillieu dropped in for a visit. This is the first Indian movie set Ted has ever been to, but he promised to make more appearances in future.

Ted sat down with Nagababu and the talented Anupam Sharma who is the Australian producer of the movie, and had an interesting chat about Indian cinema in general. He certainly found it a good break and a definite change from a hectic day in Parliament.

Ted stated that Victoria had released a policy in which they have made a commitment towards Bollywood and all south eastern cinema industries. They will soon be choosing a brand ambassador to front any issues that the filmmakers may have.

Different issues were raised with Ted, such as permissions to shoot in certain areas in Victoria which take a long time to get approved. The crew mentioned that in NSW, approvals sometimes come through in 24 hours, which makes it very easy for them to organise shoots. Ted assured them that he would put the request through in parliament, as the Victorian government is happy to be accommodating and would like to promote as many shoots as possible in Melbourne and the state.

The film team were very happy and honoured to meet Ted, and to voice their concerns to a sympathetic audience. The film will be shot over the period of a month in Australia, of which a fortnight’s shoot will be in Melbourne and the rest in Sydney.

Nitin Gupta, a member of the Liberal party and a prospective member for the next elections arranged for Ted’s trip to the sets. They also invited the film crew to watch a footy match at the MCG, in an attempt for AFL to bond with the Tollywood team as well as Indian community in Victoria.

Orange stars Genelia D’souza, well-known Bollywood actress and Ram Chandra Teja, a young and handsome actor, who has the added distinction of being south superstar Chiranjeevi’s son. It is one of the biggest films from the family of Chiranjeevi and producer Nagababu is Chiranjeevi’s brother, with a whopping production cost of Rs. 25 crore. This film, which is a romantic love story with a theme about youth, is the longest and biggest Indian film shoot set in Australia.

For Indian filmmakers, shooting movies in locations other than India began as a trend some years ago, but it has now developed into a strategic business move. To begin with, the overseas market for films now comprises a huge bracket of the profits. Secondly, the income earned abroad is usually tax-free, since export earnings of cinema and television programs are tax-exempt. Thirdly, film producers like overseas destinations because it allows them to skip the coils of Indian bureaucracy and ensures the star’s presence at shooting locations for an extended period of time. For ago) and the US or Europe.

Orange will be a stepping stone for both actors and by most counts, it will be a fine film in the director’s library of work. Also, the music should be a plus because the man behind the job is composer Harris Jayaraj, who has shaken the Tamil music industry with lilting tunes since the start of the decade. So while Tollywood eagerly anticipates this film as a treasure to add to its annals, the audience and fans back home and globally are equally keen on seeing these young guns on the big screen. As for us, we can only hope to see more Indian film shoots in Australia in the future.

Priya Rajan