Indian Music Videos: Bermuda Backdrops

In addition to Bermuda being the backdrop for part of a Bollywood movie, the island will also be the setting for two Indian music videos. The filmmakers of the movie “Veera” have said they would like to shoot 2 song sequences in Bermuda, and the scenes from the Bermuda portion will also effectively be used as music videos.

The crew of approximately 25 persons will film in Bermuda during the first week of September 2010, and the movie is scheduled to be released on January 14, 2011.

The Bermuda-based Indian film song sequences will be played on Indian TV and will also be available on Indian TV Channels in the US, UK and Canada, which are often subscribed to by Indian expatriates. A 2007 census showed there were in excess of 2.5 million Indian expatriates living in the United States alone.

Below is an Indian film song sequence featuring one of India’s most prominent actresses, Aishwarya Rai:

Bermuda is expected to be featured for about 8 to 10 minutes during the movie, and anticipated to be the setting for two music videos which will also be played separately.

The film crew that visited Bermuda are said to have been impressed by our pink sand beaches, turquoise water, Crystal Caves, Dockyard, boats and yachts, and many other attractions of Bermuda. The Director took over 600 pictures of the places they visited, which will be reviewed to decide on the areas where they will film, although at this early stage the project focus will most likely be on the beaches.

Mr.Ven Subramanian, a consultant on the project, told us:

There are typically 5 or 6 song sequences in Indian films. The songs are most often shot overseas and countries such as Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Mauritius, Iceland, Germany, UK, Denmark, US, Canada, Bahamas, South Africa, etc have been widely used for song sequences.

All these countries benefited immensely from tourism by Indians. You will be surprised to know that there is a dedicated tour from India to Switzerland just to see the locations where the famous filmmaker Mr Yash Chopra’s films were shot.

Switzerland experienced a 450% increase in Indian tourists and about 15% increase in all their tourism numbers as a result of Indian film song sequences being filmed there.

The arrangements began to fall into place in February 2010, after Premier Dr Ewart Brown visited India, making an arrangement with an Indian film school. The school will recommend Bermuda to the Indian entertainment industry and the Government of Bermuda will provide sponsorships to two students every year from Bermuda to study filmmaking at the Whistling Woods School in Mumbai, India.

On May 14, the Premier made a Ministerial Statement in the House of Assembly announcing the film, saying “this is a major achievement which will provide a short-term boost to tourism and related services while the crew and stars are in Bermuda and will be followed by significant exposure into new and emerging markets from which we can only benefit.”.

Will we see Bermudians on the big screen too? Mr. Subramanian told us:

As the song sequence involves song and dance by the lead actor and actress, it is possible that Bermudian talent in dance will be used to join the lead actors in some portions of the song sequence.

How many dancers, will depend on the director and choreographer and the talent available. The process of selection will be decided by them in due course.

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