Hong Kong woos Bollywood

Hong Kong, expecting to end 2004 with 2 million Indian visitors (10 per cent of its anticipated total of 20 million visitors), is waiting for Bollywood to do to it what Kaho Na Pyar Hai did to New Zealand or Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge did for London -- place it firmly on the travel circuit of cinema fans from India.

No wonder Hong Kong Tourism's executive director Clara Chong and regional director (South and South-east Asia) David Leung were wooing the brightest of Bollywood last week, to get the world's largest film industry to use Hong Kong as location and production base for its blockbusters.

Sixty film industry professionals were invited to the Hong Kong-Bollywood Movie Magic party in Mumbai. This follows a visit, some months ago, to Hong Kong by film producers and directors Mahesh Bhatt, Bobby Bedi and Pravin Nischal.

"We wish to establish synergies between the film capital of South Asia and Hong Kong, known as the Hollywood of the East," said Leung, a day after the Mumbai bash, in Delhi.

In what was a market first tapped by the British Tourist Authority in India, the Hong Kong Tourism Board believes that if Bollywood movies feature Hong Kong attractions, it could lead to an increased awareness of, and spurt in Indians travelling there.

This is particularly important since 60 per cent of Indian visitors to the island travel on business and can, with little effort, be converted to the leisure category, accompanied by their families.

A "movie map" of Hollywood films shot on location in Hong Kong is used as promotional material in South-east Asia, and Leung says the Tourism Board is considering a similar "map" for "creating awareness" in India.

However, it may well have to take its cue from Hollywood films since only a few Indian films (like Naam and Company) featured Hong Kong as location.

Leung is only too aware of Hong Kong's reputation in the film circuit as an "action location", at odds with Bollywood's overall romantic cinema.

However, Indian cinema is in an experimental phase, and Hong Kong will add to its appeal when Disneyland is commissioned there later this year.

Some months ago, the launch of its Avenue of Stars with a walk with indigenous movie stars' milestones, memorabilia and palm prints inscribed there, has added lustre to its reputation as a movie location.

"We want to operate as facilitators," says Leung, of the Tourism Board's role, "and will help locate producers, permits and locations with the help of the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority."

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's greatest brand endorsement as a movie destination is actor Jackie Chan who, it is believed, is working on a production that will partly be shot in India. All Hong Kong wants is a return of that favour, with Bollywood films using facilities, studios and locations there.

An ideal start, says Leung, could be a co-production starring Hong Kong and Bollywood stars in a cinematic format that would appeal to global audiences. But who will bite the bait?