East Europe is emerging as the latest hotspot for Bollywood filmmakers, with several films lined up for filming in East Europe. The good thing for tourists is that, if some of these films go on to become a major hit, they could have a much cheaper alternative to the more popular European countries as expenses in East Europe are cheaper compared to the west.
The region may not have grown commercially in the past (because of political turmoil), but with things getting normal, and the local authorities welcoming Indian filmmakers by offering incentives and special deals for movie and ad shoots, things are definitely looking better for the East european countries. After all, they know what Bollywood films can do to tourism (Switzerland & Spain are good examples).
And even the Indian film industry is not complaining as they are getting superb filming locations for very competitive rates.
Checkout these East European hotspots where Bollywood biggies are filming. For our Indian & Asian readers, the following will also add to your general knowledge :), as we are pretty much sure, most of you may not have heard the names of these cities before.
Sofia, Capital City of Bulgaria
Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol (along with Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon) have filmed in Sofia for their upcoming film.
However, it was Ajay Devgn who first zeroed in on the location, after shifting the location of his next directorial venture, ‘Shivaay’ from Calgary in Canada to Sofi in Bulgaria. Ajay Devgn, who’s a close friend of Rohit Shetty, recommended the Balkan nation to Rohit who then shot a part of his SRK-starrer ‘Dilwale’ here.
Dubrovnik in Croatia
No, Dubrovnik is not the Capital of Croatia (Zagreb is), but its natural beauty, Gothic and Renaissance architecture, got SRK to film his upcoming film ‘Fan’ in this coastal city.
Shahrukh had tweeted, “How beautiful is #Dubrovnik… makes me want to write.”
Bucharest, Capital City of Romania
‘Singh Is Bliing’, featuring Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson and directed by Prabhu Dheva was filmed in Romania. Besides filming in the capital city Bucharest, the crew also shot at Bran Castle, a modern-day tourist attraction in Transylvania that is often referred to as Dracula’s Castle (home of the titular character in Bram Stoker’s 1897 Gothic horror novel, Dracula.)
Budapest, Capital City of Hungary
Force 2, sequel to the 2011 film ‘Force’, featuring John Abraham and Sonakshi Sinha will be shot almost entirely in Budapest and surrounding areas in Hungary.
Earlier Bollywood Films Shot in East Europe
Few years back, Imtiaz Ali had shot his Ranbir Kapoor-starrer ‘Rockstar’ (2011) in Prague and Liberec in Czech Republic.
Salman Khan had filmed ‘Kick’ in Warsaw in Poland, and had also shot the romantic track ‘Tere Naina’ from the movie ‘Jai Ho’ (2014) in Romania.
Which countries comprise the Eastern European nations?
According to the United Nations Statistical Division, 10 countries are part of this region — Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine.
The assignment of countries is done only for statistical convenience and has no bearing on political considerations.
On the other hand, the Balkan countries include Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and the geographical/political region of European Turkey.
