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Shooting of a key stunt sequence on a freight train
may move to South Africa unless bureaucrats in India
can green light filming permissions soon...
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India Train Sequence Derailed?
22nd August 2011
As MI6 first
reported back in April, the 23rd
James Bond film (AKA 'Bond
23') is planning a major
train stunt sequence for Daniel Craig's third
outing as 007. Plans to shoot the action along tracks in Ahmedabad
and Goa in India may now be in jeopardy due to bureaucrats taking
too long to agree
on
important
line closures in order for the production to shoot on location,
and EON may be forced to switch to their back-up plan: South
Africa.
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Pravesh Sahni of India
Take One Productions, which would look after any
Indian leg of the Bond 23shoot, told The
Times of India, "This could be one of the biggest
Hollywood movies shot in our country."
"Trains are the
backbone of the film. We'll pay for the shooting and
also mention Indian Railways in the credit line."
"The
shooting was supposed to happen in October-November.
Now, we've postponed it to January-February. For the
past three months, we've been trying to get things
in order. The film has Daniel Craig doing stunts on a freight
train."
"While the Indian Railways has given us
permission to shoot, I need to meet someone and explain
how important
it is for us to block two tracks for eight hours a day
over five to six days. For the past 15 days, I've been
trying to get someone to hear me out."
"South African authorities
are waiting to provide everything that is required to
support this movie. If we can't get this cooperation
from India, the film will no longer be shot here." |
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"One can always divert trains if one is
convinced about the importance of shooting this international
movie in India. We shot "[Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol]" in
Mumbai and the roads had to be blocked because we couldn't have
shot stunts with a car speeding down the road at 180 km/hr amidst
regular traffic," Sahni said.
The matter has been brought to the attention
of railway minister Dinesh Trivedi, and he has promised to look
into the matter according to the paper.
Above: Stunning scenery runs
the length of the 738km Konkan Railway along
the coast of India from Mangalore in Karnataka to Mumbai
in Maharashtra through Goa, along to Western Ghats
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India has been touted as a filming location
since pre-production started on "Die
Another Day" in 2001. Back in the latter half of 1982, "Octopussy" filmed
in India over a three week period, and based their production
in Udaipur. The locales gave
the film a unique feel, and the film still plays daily in the
city to tourists visiting the sights made famous by Roger
Moore's penultimate outing as 007.
Briefing
The 23rd James Bond
film, "Skyfall", commenced principal studio photography on 7th November
2011 for a UK
release on October 26th, 2012 and the USA on November
9, 2012. MGM will produce, finance and distribute 007's
23rd adventure in
partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Daniel Craig will
be returning as the legendary British secret agent, alongside Judi
Dench as "M", with Sam Mendes directing a screenplay written by Neal
Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan. The cast will also include Bérénice Marlohe,
Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and Ben Wishaw.
The film will shoot at Pinewood Studios and on location in London, England;
Scotland; Shanghai, China and Istanbul, Turkey.
It will be the longest gap between Bond movies without
a change in the lead role. In addition, 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of
the EON Productions series of James
Bond films.
