Bollywood Films shot in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Read more to know what attracts filmmakers and tourists to this place.
More and more Indians are heading to the Andamans for its picture-perfect locations. While the elders stick to the beaches, the more adventurous lot indulge in snorkeling or scuba diving, or swim with an elephant, or hike among its densely forested hills. However, don’t expect to find glitzy hotels/resorts here (its not Maldives yet).
Films Shot in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Kaalapani (‘Black Water’ in English) is a 1996 Indian epic film directed by Priyadarshan, starring Mohanlal, Prabhu Ganesan, Tabu, and many more actors. The shooting was completed in 72 days at Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Originally a Malayalam film, it was later dubbed into Hindi (Saza-E-Kala Pani), Tamil (Siraichalai) and Telugu (Kaala Pani). Ilaiyaraaja composed the music, the cinematography was by Santosh Sivan, and the editing by N. Gopalakrishnan. The film won several National Film Awards.
The film is about the lives of prisoners in British India who were brought to Kala Pani, the Cellular Jail in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The name Kalapani is derived from the mode of imprisonment in British India.
Promoting Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The local administration is keen to promote the beauty of Andaman and Nicobar Islands to filmmakers (and tourists).
There’s an annual Island Tourism Festival that is organised here every year in January, and the administration is now keen to have film festivals also as part of this event to get maximum mileage out of the event (not a bad move at all).
Few years back (2011), the Indian Panorama Film Festival was held at Port Blair which was attended by reputed film-makers/actors from Mumbai and Tamil Film industries — Madhur Bhandarkar, Mani Ratnam, Girish Kasaravalli, Supriyo Sen, Divya Dutta.
The local administration has offered to provide all possible support to filmmakers keen to film in these picturesque Islands.
