Minister Winde meets Bollywood superstars

From left to right: Laurence Mitchell (CEO of Cape Film Commission), Anil Kapoor (Bollywood superstar), MEC Alan Winde

Cape Town Film Industry set to experience influx of Bollywood film productions

In another significant step towards cementing its role as one of the leading global film industry destinations, Cape Town is set to become the African home of the lucrative Bollywood film production market.

According to the Western Cape Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde, “the successful hosting of the IPL earlier this year gave us massive exposure in India as it beamed images of our country into the homes of millions - this provided the Western Cape with a wonderful opportunity to access this significant tourism and film market. We are now actively targeting the Indian and the Middle Eastern markets, as both have huge potential”.

Yesterday, Minister Winde and the CEO of the Cape Film Commission, Laurence Mitchell, visited the set of the latest Bollywood Blockbuster to be filmed in Cape Town, “No Problem”.

“No Problem” is a Bollywood police action movie that stars major names, such as Anil Kapoor (Slum Dog Millionaire), Sanjay Dutt and Suneel Shetty.

“The fact that Cape Town and the Western Cape has been able attract these influential and leading men and women of Bollywood is to a large extent due to the fact that we are truly recognized as a global film industry destination”, Minister Winde said.

He added that the abundance of both Bollywood and Hollywood A-list actors and big budget productions coming to our Province was a signal that our film industry was well on track to becoming a key contributor to our economy. “In order to ensure that we grow this contributor even further, we need to make sure that our service offering, whether in tourism or film, is exceptional”.

Mr. Laurence Mitchell (CEO of the Cape Film Commission) said, “the Cape Film Commission has over the past 5 years worked tirelessly to attract big Hollywood and in particular Bollywood productions to Cape Town, and we are pleased that our efforts have proved successful.”

The production of “No Problem” on our shores has already had significant spin offs, with at least 80 local people being employed as crew and cast members. Our service industry has been able to provide catering, transport and security services, and the housing of crewmembers and the cast has contributed over 2000 bed nights to our hotels in the space of less than one month. Indeed, the spin-offs have benefitted our entire tourism industry.

Anil Kapoor, who plays a policeman in the movie, expressed his satisfaction at how production has progressed and said that he believes Cape Town has the right service offerings within the film industry to be able to attract large Bollywood productions.

He remained confident that with big productions such as “No Problem”, “Tasveer”, “Seasons Greetings” and others, Cape Town has become the home of Bollywood films in Africa.

According to this Bollywood superstar, Cape Town has remarkable locations, diverse cultures, wonderful weather and even world class services that are able to compete with the best in the world.

The Cape Film Commission will later in the year undertake a mission to India to cement the Western Cape’s relationship with Bollywood and directly present the film industry’s service offering to the huge Indian film market.