Business Report - Film bodies off to India to get a slice of Bollywood

The Durban Film Office, along with its counterparts in Gauteng and Cape Town, is off to Mumbai this weekend in a bid to bring a slice of the $4.2 billion (R27.3 billion) Indian film industry to our shores.

The delegation to the India International Film Convention 2004, which starts tomorrow, will be showcasing South African locations.

The spin-offs from the film industry are significant. In the Western Cape, the industry is estimated to be worth R2 billion a year. Of this, direct spend is about R850 million. The multiplier effect for the industry is 2.5, meaning that for every R1 spent, R2.50 goes into the local economy.

The Durban Film Office feels that the city is an appropriate location for Bollywood as it has the largest Indian population of any city outside India. Besides the cultural and linguistic links, there would be a large pool of extras, the office says.

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