When SRK met Kajol against the backdrop of scenic snow-capped Swiss alps in DDLJ or when Hritik and Amisha sang duet on the banks of pristine Kiwi River in New Zealand, it made love blossom in our hearts too. Such is the impact the reel life of Bollywood can make on our real one!!

Most of the movies that are made today, are shot in various outdoor locations in countries like Switzlerland, Austria, New Zealand, Australia, US to name a few of them. The industry people say that shooting movies in exotic locations makes for a more pleasurable visual experience for the audience.

As far as EXOTIC locales are concerned, yes, they do play an important role. But why they have to be OUTDOORS? Or more precisely, why they have to be from other Countries? Why can't they find such locales right here in INDIA? Don't we have locations that are good enough to be shot in a movie? We have the wettest place on Earth at Cherrapunji as we have the arid desert of Thar in Rajasthan. We have the snow laden mountainous backdrop of Himalaya as we have the Sun kissed beaches of Goa. There is a very good anecdote that complements this situation perfectly. A Japanese couple who were visiting Switzerland, when asked by a tourism mag journalist, wether what prompted them to visit Switzerland, their reply was not that they had read about it in any dailies or magazines, but, they said that, they had seen the movie DDLJ almost 10 times (because of SRK..Of Course!!) and that they were dying to see the place where most of it was shot at. Such is the impact a Bollywood movie can have! Imagine if the same movie would have been shot at Lakhswadeep islands (which by the way has the potential of becoming the Hawaii of Asia), it would have turned the fortunes of the until-now neglected Union Territory. This is what Australia's MP Fran Bailey had to say after Salaam Namaste (Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta starrer) was shot in Victoria, Australia, "Bollywood is doing a commendable job for our tourism industry. The many aspects of Australia's unique tourism experience, including our vibrant cities, scenic vistas and unique culture that are being profiled widely by Bollywood, which is a great news for us.” It is clear that OUR movies are helping them fill THEIR cash coffers! No wonder that Australia's government has given special discounts and privileges to Indian producers who are willing to shoot their films in Australia!! To add more to the insult, nearly every heavy budget film released this year has been been shot in Foreign locations, right from Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (US) to Krissh (Singapore). Even a movie with theme based on KASHMIR (Fanaa) was shot in Poland!!!

I just can't comphrehend the reason for doing this. Are these Bollywood people ASHAMED of shooting in India? Do they think that shooting in US or Singapore will make the film more popular? When Mother Nature has provided us with such diversity in climate and terrain right here in India, why go scouting over for them the World over?

Bollywood, has now ballooned into a professionally driven industry with personal worth of more than 2875 Million $. It ranks first in the World in terms of the number of movies that are churned out from it every year . As far as viewership is concerned, with an estimated viewing population of 5 Billion, it far surpasses the Hollywood. This clearly proves the fact that Bollywood movies have the capacity of promoting India like no other mediums can ever have. They have the power to revive our Tourism industry, which by now is in complete shambles, thus indirectly boosting the Nation's Economy!

Wake up Bollywood, Mother India is calling!!