Uncharted terrain: Bollywood films exploring untapped foreign locations

In her recently released film Queen Kangna Ranautrsquos character was shown as strolling around in Paris and AmsterdamFrom left Farhan Akhtar Ranveer Singh Priyanka Chopra and Anushka Sharma will be shooting for Zoya Akhtarrsquos upcoming film Dil Dhadakne Do on a cruise liner that will halt at Barcelona below among other port cities in Spain The crew has decided on shooting at several locales in keeping with the fact that the project is being hailed as Bollywoodrsquos first destination filmThose who have watched the film will agree that that both cities were more than just backdrops in the filmOf course European destinations have been showcased in Hindi films for quite some time now but of late there is a tendency among filmmakers to shoot at hitherto unexplored localesKangna Ranautrsquos character decides to go on her honeymoon to Europe mdash all by herself mdash in the film Queenhitlist points out some upcoming films that have been shot in unfamiliar terrainKickDirector Sajid Nadiadwala Country PolandLowdown Although Fanaa 2006 starring Aamir Khan and Kajol was shot in Poland the country remains unexplored in Hindi films Sajid who makes his directorial debut with this Salman Khanstarrer has shot a major chunk in the countryBombay VelvetDirector Anurag Kashyap Country Sri Lanka Lowdown Madras Cafe 2013 may have not been shot in this island country but Kashyap has shot a major portion of his next film in Sri Lanka In fact his team is said to have created the largest set for a Bollywood film outside IndiaPK Director Rajkumar Hirani Country Belgium Lowdown Seldom has a Hindi film been chosen by Bollywood filmmakers But Hiranirsquos upcoming film starring Aamir Khan Anushka Sharma and Sushant Singh Rajput features several sequences shot in the countryPhantomDirector Kabir Khan Country LebanonLowdown The last few years have seen many Bollywood films get shot in Morocco and Turkey This year has an addition in the form of Lebanon Several scenes in the upcoming thriller starring Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif have been filmed in BeirutDil Dhadakne DoDirector Zoya Akhtar Country Spain and FranceLowdown A film that has a cruise liner as an integral part of the storyline is bound to go places And Zoyarsquos next film touted as Bollywoodrsquos first destination movie does feature travel in a bug way The film will be shot in several countries including many European portsFanDirector Maneesh SharmaCountry CroatiaLowdown Fan can perhaps do to Croatia what Rockstar 2011 did to Czech Republic Croatia is one of those European destinations that continue to remain unexplored Makers of this film starring Shah Rukh Khan have apparently chosen to shoot some action sequences in the countryBang BangDirector Siddharth Raj AnandCountry Thailand Lowdown Bangkok and Pattaya may be common tourist destinations for Indian families but they have been not been very popular among Hindi filmmakers Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaifrsquos forthcoming action thriller however will showcase Thailand in many highoctane sequences