India’s $20 billion “Bollywood” film industry moguls are looking to Israel to scout out new ventures and film location sites. They will tour Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Masada and the Dead Sea, with an eye to attractive filming sites.
The visit this week by some of India’s largest and most lucrative film and television companies coincides with the Jerusalem International Film Festival Premiere of “Gangor,” a film by Indian producer Vinod Kumar.
The Hollywood Reporter hailed the Indian-Italian co-production as “a moving personal account of the mass rape of India’s poor, tribal women whose voices are rarely, if ever, heard.”
“I have visited all the important film festivals in the world and have always dreamed of visiting Israel, especially Jerusalem,” said senior delegation member Supran Sen, Secretary General of the Film Federation of India. “I am very much fascinated by this visit."
The visit is being carried out in cooperation with Project Interchange of the American Jewish Committee.
Noting how Israeli films continue to garner international awards at Cannes, Hollywood and Berlin, the nine-member delegation will be meeting Israel’s leading directors and producers, including Yoram Globus, head of Globus Group Israel Studios, Israel’s largest entertainment and cinema group, and Globus Group CEO and General Director Israel Horowitz.
"I am eagerly looking forward to meeting the filmmakers and creative talent from Israel,” said filmmaker Abhishek Sharma, of Walkwater Media. “This is a golden opportunity for the artists of the two countries to explore areas and themes of common interest and take the relationship between our two industries to the next level. With a country that is so rich in talent and culture, our Israeli counterparts can surely enrich and contribute to the colorful film industry of India."
“We from India come with our strengths, to learn of your strengths, so that we can collaborate and take our love and passion for cinema to the next level,” said Three’s Company Productions Producer and Director Shirish Kunder.
"I find that Israelis and Indians both have strong family bonds,” observed Producer Sundeep “Bobby” Bedi, Kaleidiscope Studios Founder. “I look forward to a heightened creative interaction."