Shoot more Bollywood films in Kenya, urges the country’s High Commissioner to India

Even though only a small number of Hindi films have been shot in Kenya, it turns out that Bollywood is ‘immensely popular’ in the East African nation. Buoyed by the local people’s love for Bollywood celebs, Ambassador Willy Bett - the country’s High Commissioner to India - is urging Indian filmmakers to pick Kenya as the shooting location for their movies more often. 

“There are serious followers of Bollywood movies in Kenya. My own children watch so many Bollywood films. And, Kenya is a desired destination for filmmaking, we have already done a number of Indian films in Kenya. I am saying we should do more. We are also telling the filmmakers that there is a product for them in Kenya, and our authorities will give all possible help to them for specific arrangements,” the ambassador told PTI, while speaking on the on the sidelines of the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB)’s recently concluded six-day ‘B2B Trade Networking Roadshows’ in Delhi.

Among Bollywood films shot in Kenya include the 2013 film Shortcut Romeo. The action crime thriller film was directed by Susi Ganeshan. The film starred Neil Nitin Mukesh and Puja Gupta, alongside Ameesha Patel in a negative character. According to reports, Anurag Basu’s much-talked about musical adventure comedy film, Jagga Jasoos, released in 2017 - starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif - was shot in Morocco, Kenya and Cape Town.   

Did you know the late actress Divya Bharti’s debut film Vishwatma, released in 1992, was also partly shot in Kenya? Directed by Rajiv Rai, the thriller film had an ensemble - including Naseeruddin Shah and Sunny Deol, Sonam and Chunky Pandey. 

Speaking of the latest Indian film to include the African country as its location is C Prem Kumar’s Telugu romantic drama film Jaanu. Starring Sharwanand and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, the 2020 flick is a remake of the Tamil film ‘96, released in 2018.