Sydney to star in Bollywood film Heyy Babyy

Media News

Mumbai, August 07

The New South Wales (NSW) Government has joined forces with Indian film producers to promote the Bollywood film Heyy Babyy that will be previewed in Sydney, Australia on 22 August, in advance of its world premiere in Mumbai on 24 August.

The Minister for Tourism, Matt Brown, said the film, set in Sydney, was shot at some of Sydney’s most famous tourist locations such as the iconic Sydney Opera House and Bondi Beach as well as The Rocks, Darling Harbour, Botanical Gardens as well as Sydney city streets.

“We are pleased that producer Sajid Nadiadwala chose to set and shoot Heyy Babyy in Sydney,” Mr Brown said.

“The production house, Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment worked with the NSW Government to garner maximum mileage for Sydney and promote our key messages to the Indian audiences.

“We are very excited about the release of the film and wish the producer, director, cast and crew every success for their movie.”

The NSW government provided support to Sajid Nadiadwala and his team to shoot Sajid Khan’s directorial debut film. Tourism NSW, the Department of State and Regional Development and the NSW Film and Television Office (FTO) provided extensive location advice and production assistance to Sajid Nadiadwala’s team during the film shoot.

Heyy Babyy is the biggest multi-star Bollywood film production to have come to Australia. The production house spent about $AUD2 million and hired more than 450 Australian cast and crew during its five and a half week stay on locations across NSW.

Speaking about the crew’s experiences on shooting in Australia, producer Sajid Nadiadwala said, “It was an absolute pleasure to shoot this film on location in Sydney, Australia.

“Everything about Sydney was perfect – the friendly and professional Australian crew, the aesthetic beauty of the natural and manmade attractions and landscapes, the lifestyle of the city and the excellent nightlife, shopping and dining were all key factors in the success of the film shoot in Sydney,” Mr Nadiadwala said.

Heyy Babyy is the story of three bachelors Aroush (Akshay Kumar), Tanmay (Riteish Deshmukh) and Al (Fardeen Khan) living in Sydney. Their romantic lives are turned upside down when a baby lands on their doorstep.

Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment is the first Indian production company to have shot almost an entire film in Sydney.

“Sydney, Australia has a potent creative environment for film and television and has become a hot destination for leading Indian film makers, offering them many picturesque locations for filming,” chief executive officer of the FTO, Tania Chambers, said.

“Every year an increasing number of filmmakers come to NSW to make the most of our world-class locales, accomplished crew and leading edge post production facilities.

“India is a major economic partner of the future and the FTO will continue to market NSW as a production destination for India’s powerhouse film industry,” Ms Chambers said.

“Film is just one of the industries that offers promising potential for growth in trade in services between NSW and India,” the Minister for State Development Ian Macdonald said.

“India is Australia’s fastest growing market for services exports; and other service industries where NSW can build world class industry links with India including health, education, tourism, energy and power.”

As a location, there is nowhere in the world like Sydney. Ranked as the world's number one city brand (Anholt Citybrand Index, 2006), Sydney is one of the world's most liveable cities, the business gateway to Australia and of course a favourite holiday destination.

For further details, please contact:

Rakhi Khanna

Corporate Voice|Weber Shandwick

Tel: 91-22-22022293 / 2335

Mob: 9820518873

rakhi@corvoshandwick.co.in