New Delhi
25 June 2005
Oil-rich Kazakhstan, it appears, is looking for an image makeover. In
a bid to emerge as a favourite destination for film directors and producers, Kazakhstan
is making concerted efforts to woo Bollywood stars to come and shoot films in its scenic
locales and also offering a one-stop production facility in collaboration with the
government-owned Kazakhfilm company.
Filmmaker Sawan Kumar has recently returned from that country where he held talks with
representatives of Kazakhfilm and travelled to scenic spots that would be ideal locations
for shooting like Ooty and Goa. He is understood to have evinced interest in visiting
Kazakhstan again in connection with a film-shoot although no particular project has been
finalised so far.
Another opportunity to woo Bollywood stars would present itself later this year when
"Eurasia", the second international film festival of Asian and Eurasian films, would be
hosted in Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan. Invitations have been sent out to
Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Shahrukh Khan, Kiran Shantaram, Sudhir
Nadgaonkar and others.
If all goes well, an Indian actor could also be on the jury for selecting a winning official
entry from among full-length feature films from Europe and Asia including India. It is also
being speculated that an Indian filmmaker could be honoured with a retrospective of his
films. This is the first time India has been invited to the festival organised by the
Ministry of Culture, Information and Sport of Kazakhstan.
Eurasia is said to be the largest international cultural event uniting "East and West" by
showcasing the best films of Europe, Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The festival consists of an international competition, out-of-competition international
panorama, Kazakh cinema panorama, Central Asian panorama and two retrospectives. It
will be organised from September 26 to October 2.
Besides offering a scenic locale, Kazakhfilm has production facilities too. It is located
south of Almaty at the foothills of Zaily Alatau mountains. The producing complex is
spread over 17 hectares. The Kazakhfilm studio has a landscape nearby that attracts
professional filmmakers. There are canyons, grove, feather grass steppe and desert
features, all within a radius of 100 km.
All technological aspects of producing the films from the very beginning to the end is
made in the company's own shops and divisions. The studio has necessary shops and
technological places which provide services to the filming groups. Incidentally,
Hollywood has already made a foray into Kazakhstan. "Nomad", a Kazakh-Hollywood
coproduction, will be premiered next month.
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