NEW DELHI: A group of Indian filmmakers visited Israel recently as both countries explore ways of
Bollywood using Israeli technology or locales for their films.
Tanvi Garg of Ellipsis, Imtiaz Ali of Window Seat Films and well-known director Sarita Patil of Viacom 18,
Priyanka Mehrotra, senior producer of Emmy, and Vishesh Bhatt visited Israel to explore co-production possibilities. This is not the first time Indian filmmakers travelled to Israel for business and production opportunities, the last time being in 2011.
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu will have his own "
Shalom Bollywood" moment in Mumbai on January 18 when he is expected to make a strong pitch for Bollywood to partner with Israeli film entertainment and technology industry.
Israel is not only a new exotic locale — and Bollywood is always scouting for such locales — but it is also a hub of cutting edge film and animation technologies that are revolutionising the entertainment industry. Film start-ups in Israel, which specialise in everything from databases to animation are of interest to Indians.
In recent years, UAE has developed film and production capabilities in a specially created film city in Abu Dhabi. It has even hosted several new Indian film start-ups, lighting expertise and other film expertise that Bollywood can sell for international productions for much less. Israel offers a qualitatively different experience. For instance, Israeli start-up Muvix is re-imagining the way we watch movies in theatres.
