From Mumbai to Milan, it?s destination Calcutta. Mission? Ad films.

Suddenly, the city has emerged as a hot address for advertisers. And we aren?t talking about the neighbourhood biscuit brand here, but the Pepsis and Samsungs.

As studios from Roopkala Kendro to Aurora Studio come alive to the demands of advertising and places like Victoria Memorial and the Metro Railway emerge as preferred product-push backdrops, the question begging to be asked is, why Calcutta?

The answer lies somewhere amidst cash and curiosity, notes and novelty. ?In recent months, there has been a considerable and sizeable increase in the number of commercials shot here,? says Amit Sen, producer-director and proprietor of the production house Eyelevel. ?And the most logical reason for this market expansion is the fact that clients realise they can get an A-grade commercial in Calcutta at a price which can only get them a B-grade or C-grade ad in Mumbai,? he adds.

Cutting down on production costs is a critical criterion, stresses Jikesh Shah, a local casting coordinator. ?One of the main reasons they agree to do away with the glamour of Mumbai and shoot their ads in Calcutta is to save money. Everything from locations to technicians to artistes come for much less and if it is a storyboard involving a whole lot of people, a production team can save lakhs.?

Saving lakhs aside, there is the lure of locations. Says director Pradeep Sarkar of Mumbai?s Apocalypse Films: ?I have always come to shoot in Calcutta for the location ? the same reason why I shot my first film Parineeta here. You can?t get a virgin location like Calcutta, as it hasn?t been explored at all, unlike Mumbai, Delhi and the south.?

Bauddhayan Mukherji of Black Magic Motion Pictures, a leading production house, agrees with Sarkar: ?The kind of houses and locations that the city offers, Mumbai simply can?t. Even the streets have a character of their own, leave alone the colonial architecture and other amazing visual possibilities.?

Also, Mukherji feels, the clients are never too fussy as to where the ads are shot. ?It is the director?s call and we prefer the backdrop of Calcutta,? he adds.

Then, there?s the star factor. Team India captain Sourav Ganguly?s reluctance to shoot outside the city has brought the big brands he endorses to Behala. With the LGs, Pepsis and Tata Indicoms drawn to Maharaj?s door, addresses like Santoshpur stadium and Tollygunge Club have made it to the national advertising map.

?It?s not that we are below par vis-?-vis Mumbai or Delhi,? clarifies Sandeep Rudra, a local production manager for ad films. ?Apart from the picturesque real locations, our studios and equipment can now match those in other cities.?

As for neighbouring countries, like Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Calcutta offers plum production values.

?It?s a win-win situation for both of us,? says Sen of Eyelevel. ?They don?t have the set-up to shoot such commercials for their products and for us, it?s an enriching experience, working on an international brand. We have even shot a Seychelles product recently.?