It’s 1998. Ismail Merchant decides to shoot his colonial-era film Cotton Mary in Fort Kochi. He wants the story of an Indian nanny to a British woman to be set in South India. “Why not Kerala? Why not Fort Kochi?” he says. “It is exotic. Cinematically exciting.” Cotton Mary, starring Madhur Jaffrey and Greta Scacchi, becomes the first international production to be shot in the city.
It’s 2016. Hindi film actor Saif Ali Khan is in Kochi for his 2017 release Chef, an official remake of Jon Favreau’s Hollywood production of the same name. Raja Menon’s movie explores Kerala’s culinary traditions, and plays out in one of its most cosmopolitan cities. “Kochi is unique, it is a brilliant mix of the traditional and modern, both in its people and the landscape,” Menon told Scroll.in.
Kochi has historically been a favoured destination for travellers and tourists. Its backwaters, house boat rides, lush green countryside, spices and the cobbled streets of Fort Kochi are among the attractions. But Kochi is also a favourite with filmmakers, and not only those from within the state.
Numerous luminaries from the Malayalam film industry live in Kochi, such as Mohanlal, Mammootty, Nivin Pauly, Prithviraj, Dileep, Manju Warrier and Jaisurya. The city is also home to several post-production studios, and is responsible for nearly half of all Malayalam cinema in the state. “Kochi is an old port city – it has Portuguese, Dutch and British charm and yet parts of it are gritty,” said Rajeev Ravi, who has set his acclaimed films Annayum Rasoolum (2013) and Kammatipaadam (2016) here.
The European buildings and old godowns leading to the backwaters in Fort Kochi can be shorthand not only for Pondicherry or Panaji but also Tuticorin – as it was in Mani Ratnam’s Kadal (2013). A scene featuring the lead actors Gautham Karthik and Thulasi Nair was shot in Fort Kochi, but shown as Tamil Nadu in the film.
Some of the scenes in Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Cafe (2013) were filmed in and around Princess Street in Fort Kochi. Baaghi (2016), starring Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor, was also shot here. Shah Rukh Khan shot at the Bolgatty Palace for Yes Boss (1997).
The other popular locations in Kochi are the Lulu Mall, Chendamangalam and the Tripunthira Hill Palace, where the renowned Malayalam movie Manichitrathazhu (1993) was shot. The Hindi remake, Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), was set in Rajasthan.
Kochi as a character in itself is hardly new to Malayalam cinema. Rajeev Ravi’s Kammatipadam is a hard-hitting film on the land grabbing mafia in Fort Kochi. Annayum Rasoolum, in which a Muslim taxi driver falls in love with a Christian woman, unfolds in different places in Kochi. The Jayasurya and Kunchako Boban film Gulumal (2009) opens with the words, “The city of Kochi, the place where people make their money. And crooks also survive.”
One of the best films to use Kochi as a character is John Abraham’s Amma Ariyan (1986). A crowd walks from north Kerala to Kochi to tell the mother of a young Naxalite that her son is dead. As the crowd moves through towns and cities, we see people talking about the places that they pass through. At Kochi, the dead man’s mother is sitting at St Francis Church, which houses the gravestone of Vasco de Gama. The Portuguese explorer died in Kochi on his third visit to India in 1524.
“One big factor in Kochi’s favour is its easy accessibility,” Raja Menon said. “Kochi is brilliantly connected with other places. Within no time at all, you can get to another unique location, for example the backwaters in Alleypey or the hills of Munnar.”
Film crews use the city as their base to travel and shoot in nearby areas, such as Athirapally Falls, which is 65 kilometres from Kochi. The sequence in SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali, in which Prabhas’s character carries a shivalingam with the waterfall as the backdrop, was shot here.
The song Barso Re from Mani Ratnam’s Guru (2007) was also shot at Athirapally Falls, as were the Tamil movies Punnagai Mannan (1986), Alex Pandian (2013) and the Telugu film Brindavanam (2010).
Another popular location near Kochi is Kuttanad, which is 60 kms from Kochi. Kuttanad’s vast stretches of paddy fields, which have earned it the reputation of Kerala’s rice bowl, can be seen in Kuselan (2008). Bejoy Nambiar’s David (2013) starting Vikram, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Tabu, was extensively filmed in Kuttanad, as were scenes in Tashan (2008). Thodupuzha, an hour’s drive from Kochi, was where the Mohanlal starrer Drishyam (2013) was shot.
Production costs are far lower in Kochi than in cities like Mumbai, and permissions are far easier to obtain. Rajeev Ravi, who has shot several Hindi films, including Dev.D (2009) and Bombay Velvet (2015), said, “Getting permission to film in Mumbai example, is a problem, but Kochi, on the other hand, is easy.” In Kochi, permissions are usually given within two days, whereas the process can stretch to at least a month in Mumbai.
“Corruption is low in Kochi,” added Ravi, who was born and raised in the city. “You can use your contacts to get things done. In Mumbai, you need to pay for everything.”
It’s not just films that give Kochi an edge over other places. Venu V, Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism said Kerala has been given a huge promotional push, which has played a major role in bringing the state recognition outside India. “The Real Marigold Hotel series on BBC, which explored retirement options in Kochi, really brought it on the radar in the UK,” he said. “This has also got attention from filmmakers outside Kerala.”
