Ali: Bollywood calls

Jamshedpur, Feb. 5: He may be just a film-old, but Imtiaz Ali is already being touted as one of the promising directors of Bollywood, after his Socha Na Tha — a candyfloss romance. Now, the steel city boy is going international.

A former student of DBMS English School, Imtiaz was recently invited by the Hong Kong tourism board to shoot a docu-drama for the promotion of tourism in the country, a first-time for an Indian director.

The project comprises an international team — two other directors from Thailand and Korea — and is being produced by AXN. “This film would be part of a project titled Discover Hong Kong to be produced by AXN. We three were chosen because Honk Kong receives maximum number of tourists from the three countries,” said Imtiaz, while talking to The Telegraph from Mumbai.

While all the three filmmakers have been asked to incorporate tourist attractions like the Wetland Park, the new cable car and Disneyland in their documentary, they are also expected to focus on the rich culture of the place.

“I have made four films in total. While the first three were shot at the three pre-decided location, the fourth, and the main one, titled Magic Carpet is being aired on AXN now,” added Imtiaz.

Interestingly, the director himself has been featured in one of the short films.

After this, the film would be screened in other international platforms for maximum mileage. “The producers wish to take the short films to other countries where they will be shown both on television and on electronic billboards,” added Imtiaz.

For now, the director is excited about this collaboration, which, he predicts, would also benefit the Bollywood film industry. Though tight-lipped about his next ventures, Imtiaz mentioned his forthcoming projects would be a film called Rockstar, to star John Abraham, with music by A.R. Rahman, to be followed by another (untitled) venture with Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif.