Written by new-contact on Nov 4, 2014. Posted in Production News

Bollywood movie Tamasha shoots Corsica and gets French filming incentive

Bollywood movie Tamasha shot on the French island of Corsica over the summer and has become the first Indian movie to qualify for France’s formal filming incentive. The Tamasha team chose the Mediterranean island despite initially favouring Sardinia and Sicily.

The production team was initially sceptical about whether a Corsica shoot would work, with a central concern being the island’s lack of filming infrastructure.

Corsica also has a decades-long reputation for gang violence, which the producers were aware of as they considered their filming locations. Organised criminal activity has been a historic problem on the island and militants fighting for political independence from France only pledged a lasting ceasefire this summer after 40 long years. Pointedly, no tourists have ever been targeted on the island.

JP Costantini of service company IFILM FRANCE introduced the production team to Corsica and convinced them to stay.

“To make them fully confident with Corsica, I had the idea to ask the President of the Corsican Region, Paul Giacobbi, to meet the director and his producer,” Costantini explains: “I had the chance and he agreed. So only a few days after their arrival in Corsica they met the head of the Territorial Collectivity of Corsica.

“I must say honestly that I think this meeting was key to their decision to shoot in Corsica as they had been welcomed by the president of a region that speaks fluent English, knows India and its culture and cinema, and who assured them of his support.”

One of the central logistical challenges came during pre-production when Costantini had to secure accommodation on the island for 120 crew members – most of whom were Indian – at the height of the summer holiday season. The Tamasha producers had limited scheduling options for the availability of their main talent, but in the end they agreed to a May shoot to avoid the worst of the summer crowds.

The production team worked with Film France to put the production forward for incentive support under the country’s 20% Tax Rebate for International Productions (TRIP).

To find out more about filming in Corsica click here.