Shooting slick action films and cheesy sex comedies in Dubai will no longer be easy.
According to new ground-rules laid down in the duty-free city Bollywood producers now have to submit their scripts for consideration before they are allowed to shoot.
And one of the first casualties of this revised rule for creative freedom was Vashu Bhagnani who proceeded with director David Dhawan, and his cast of Govinda, Sushmita Sen Lara Dutta, Sohail Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Ranvir Shorey after a luxuriant shooting schedule in Abu Dhabi for the David Dhawan directed Do Knot Disturb, to Dubai on Sunday…
….Only to be politely told to halt by Mediacity in Dubai who monitor all cultural activities.
Says Vashu, "It was a setback, yes. We were stopped. But with reason. I don't disagree with the new rules because Dubai is being constantly misused by Bollywood filmmakers.
They keep coming down here in Dubai to make sexy films or cheap stunt films. These were bringing a bad name to Dubai globally as a city of crime and quick pleasure."
Dubai, apparently wants a change of image. And Bollywood would have to comply.
Says Vashu, "Mediacity now expects us to submit our script in advance. I wasn't aware of this rule. So after we left Abu Dhabi and reached Dubai we had to wait until I could give them a copy of the script.
The authorities were very nice to us. They even offered to let us shoot before the papers were formally cleared. But I decided we needed to go by the rules to set an example for Bollywood teams who come to shoot after us."
The message is clear. Don't mess around in Dubai.
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