Scene from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which was shot on location in Scotland. View larger photo.

It seems that the 'Bollywood' film industry does indeed love Britain having shot 22 Hindi films here in the last decade, the most recent of which is 'Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat' (Love Love & Love) shot on location in Scotland. Fans might be more familiar with hit movies ' Mohabbatein', released in year 2000 and shot at Longleat House in Warminster and Queen's College Oxford, or 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', another blockbuster filmed in Scotland. Given the fact that Bollywood churns out nearly 800 films a year, an average of 2.2 movies a year being filmed here is not exactly earth-shattering news.

However, the British Tourist Authority aims to redress the balance in favour of cold and draughty Britain by producing a Bollywood Movie Map. Claiming that Britain has now become a popular choice for the world's biggest movie industry, the estimated $2.75 billion value of the industry is its likely target.

Acknowledged as the first of its kind, BTA's Bollywood Movie Map is a guide to the major film locations in Britain, highlighting 22 films shot here since 1990 and 17 classics shot during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The map is accompanied by a website www.visitbritain.com/moviemap which has a dedicated Bollywood section. 55,000 copies of the booklet will be distributed through BTA's offices in India and the Middle East. UK Bollywood fans can collect copies from Britain's Visitor Centre in Regent Street, London.

The hills are alive with the sound of Hindi music.

Sadly, Bollywood blockbusters do not require any of the high-tech animation skills that Hollywood seeks out in the UK films studios, or computer generated wizardry as seen on our screens in movies such as 'Chicken Run' and ' Star Wars Episode I'. Production and the recording of music are still carried out "back home" despite the availability of world-renowned music facilities in the UK.

Indian producers, it seems, choose their locations on the basis of what they consider to be 'exotic' or 'unusual' places, and Britain is both to the potential Indian filmgoer or visitor. Latest figures (1999) show that Britain received 183,000 visitors from India who spent £143 million in total.

BTA Campaigns Manager Seren Welch said:"Britain as a Bollywood film backdrop has become increasingly popular over the last decade, raising the profile of Britain as a holiday destination to a growing audience. The new BTA Bollywood Movie Map capitalises the on the 'screen romance' that Britain is having with Bollywood. It invites visitors to Britain to follow in the footsteps of their favourite stars."

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