Indian film executives scout Kerry for Bollywood locations

Co Kerry has been scouted for film locations by Bollywood film executives.

Some of the top names in Indian film visited the county during a trip last week as guests of the Indian office of Tourism Ireland, in conjunction with the Irish Film Board.

Well-known Bollywood producers, directors and location scouts explored the potential of numerous locations and beauty spots for their next big Bollywood blockbuster.

Over eight days, the producers checked out various locations in Kerry including Kenmare, Slea Head and the Dingle Peninsula, and stayed at the five-star Park Hotel in Kenmare.

Last year, the Bollywood film shot on location in Dublin, Ek Tha Tiger, became one of the biggest-grossing movies ever in India and was seen by an estimated 100 million cinema-goers.

Tourism Ireland is confident that the popularity of Bollywood films can deliver benefits for Irish tourism, with films shot here helping to significantly boost awareness of Ireland among India’s growing middle-classes who have the potential to come here on holidays.

Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons said: “Bollywood is deep-rooted in the psyche of most Indians and in Indian communities across the world, and the films have a considerable influence on Indian travellers when they are deciding on their holiday destination.

“Films shot on location here, like Ek Tha Tiger, are really influential, helping to increase awareness of Ireland, to whet appetites among Indian travellers who are always on the lookout for new destinations and create a curiosity to come and visit the places where the film was shot.”

Kerry has a long film-making tradition dating back to the time when the American Kalem company shot several silent movies in the Beaufort area, near Killarney, in the years prior to World War One.

Local man Thomas G Cooper made the feature film, The Dawn, based on the War of Independence, in Killarney, in the mid 1930s.

The Dingle Peninsula was the location for the David Lean-directed epic Ryan’s Daughter in the late 1960s, while Tom Cruise and his ex-wife Nicole Kidman starred in Far And Away, made in the Dingle area more than 20 years ago.