Uzbekistan calls on Bollywood to explore locations, opportunities

There is huge potential for Bollywood filmmakers to shoot in Uzbekistan as it provides the best locations, incentives and technical support, the country's Ambassador to India Farhod Arziev has said.

He said cooperation in the film industry is being promoted through the Indo-Uzbekistan Film and Culture Forum, which was formed earlier this year in the national capital.

Citing an example, Arziev said Dev Entertainment Ventures (DEV) will soon release a new movie titled "Hoichoi" in which many scenes have been shot in Uzbekistan.

"This movie is one of the most successful examples of film location tourism exchanges, which is a popular trend globally," he told PTI.

He added that a lot of incentives and technical support were provided to the film crew during their work in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara.

"We expect more Bollywood movies to connect India and Uzbekistan," the Ambassador said.

According to reports, Bollywood movies are popular in Uzbekistan, and actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan are a craze among Uzbeks.

Uzbek TV channels regularly show Indian films and serials.

He said that cooperation in this segment would help promote the growth of the tourism sector.

"I strongly believe that Uzbekistan and India can enrich each other in terms of tourism cooperation. India is a big source of outbound tourism for Uzbekistan. India is also a popular destination amongst citizens of Uzbekistan," Arziev said.

(With inputs from agencies.)