Bollywood filmmakers are finding it more and more difficult to find exciting new locations for their movies.
Gone are the days when all they had to do was go to Switzerland and point the camera at any spot.
Now, the hunt is constantly on for virgin locales.
David Dhawan has zeroed in on Baku in Azerbaijan for the remake of Coolie No 1.
Speaking from the location, he tells Subhash K Jha, “You have to see this place. It is paradise on earth. We were invited by the government of Azerbaijan to visit and choose the location and we were completely bowled over. Why hasn’t anyone shot an Indian film here before?”
Coolie No 1 is a remake of David Dhawan’s 1995 superhit, where Govinda played the eponymous role of a railway porter who poses as a millionaire to marry an heiress, Karisma Kapoor.
While Varun takes over Govinda’s role, Sara Ali Khan plays the heiress.
The original film was shot in Mumbai. It will be interesting to see how writer Rumi Jaffrey takes the plot to Azerbaijan.