a song-and-dance sequence in an Indian movie—if it made the editor's
cut, that is: the Andes in Peru, and the ruins of the Inca city of
Machu Picchu located high amid those mountains.
Sun Pictures & Kalanithi Maran
Strictly speaking, we're talking Kollywood not Bollywood, even if the
latter has become the catch-all term overseas for all movies coming
out of India. "Endhiran" (Robot), in which Tamil megastar Rajnikanth
plays a scientist and a robot and which opens Friday, flew its stars
to Peru to film one of the music scenes.
Fernando Astete, director of the Machu Picchu Archaelogical Park,
recalled the shoot approximately two years ago, remembering in
particular a younger female star (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, we're
assuming), and an older white-haired woman who did the actual singing.
"We have seen some Indian movies here," said Mr. Astete. "It was the
quintessential music that we see in those movies, with the man falling
in love and courting the woman. There were also some Brazilian
elements all mixed in. It was something quite exotic."
Press photos on the official site show extras wearing feathered
outfits and elaborate metallic head-dresses. Watch a video that
purports to be of a rehearsal at the ruins:
The anthropologist said it was quite unusual to get a film crew like this.
"Normally we get films about the discovery of Machu Picchu, the
Discovery Channel, what was Machu Picchu like, films by National
Geographic, that kind of thing," said Mr. Astete.
"The idea was to promote Peru in the vast market of India," he said.
Although the filming was restricted to open areas that may have been
used for agriculture by the Incas, you can see the monument clearly in
the background, he says.
The Incas were brutally conquered in the 16th century by the Spanish,
who made Peru one of the capitals of their empire, and sent a steady
stream of gold and silver from the country to Spain. But Machu Picchu,
also known as "the lost city of the Incas," was never discovered by
them and so never plundered. It was brought to international attention
by Yale historian Hiram Bingham in 1911.
Mr. Astete said the agency that markets tourism to Peru, Promperu,
helped the film's crew with the paperwork in order to be able to film
there.
Peru isn't the easiest place for Indians to get to and vice versa.
There are no direct flights and so air travel time easily totals 30
hours one way. Trade between the two countries stands at only around
$1 billion.
Still Peru is trying, first by winning over movie stars. In April
2009, Deepika Padukone was a guest of Peru for a fashion event
organized by Promperu.
We're all for increased ties between India and Peru, particularly if
India's bureaucracy could learn something from Peru's. At 9 a.m. their
time, government cultural offices in Cusco, the city nearest to Machu
Picchu, were manned. In less than 15 minutes, the first person we
spoke to had figured out mwe should talk to about recent shoots at the
archeological site and provided us the necessary mobile phone number.
The park director answered his mobile on the first try.
At the end of the interview, Mr. Astete also asked a question.
"The movie is coming out this Friday you say?" he said and paused. "Do
you think it would be possible to send us the DVD?"
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For more information, visit San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau.