In a recognition of India’s BO clout, Tom Cruise flew down here
In a recognition of India’s BO clout, Tom Cruise flew down here to first shoot and then promote ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’
It was perhaps “Avatar” that opened Hollywood’s eyes to how lucrative a market India might be, besides just a pretty, exotic ‘spiritual’ location. And that was in evidence when Tom “Top Gun” Cruise landed up in India earlier this month to wave at fans, visit the Taj and generally make himself and his movie visible to his audience here in India, Hollywood’s next big market.
It was big news, but not that big a deal when, in April 2009, we first reported that the fourth instalment of the “Mission: Impossible” series might be filmed in Rajasthan, with Tom flying down to shoot for it. Gerard Butler, who’d been on a visit to India earlier, was said to have checked out shooting locations while in Rajasthan, which was said to have led to Brad Bird, the director of “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”, exploring further options.
Soon, it was reported that Anil Kapoor was doing a cameo in the film, and Tom tweeted a ‘dhanyawaad’ to Anil as he tried to pick up some Hindi. The unit, Tom included, did come and shoot a part of the climax here, slipping in and out of the country without being noticed. Soon, “M:I:4” became the latest in a series of films to be released in India ahead of the US and the UK to fend off competition from local cine biggies, and to give it a boost, DT reported, Anil confirmed that Tom would be coming to India to promote it!
Now, even the barely interested movie watcher will tell you that film stars don’t promote a movie where there’s no market. “”Slumdog” was just the beginning,” said Anil at a screening of a portion of the new film in Mumbai ahead of its release. “I’ve been saying it for three years, but back then, they’d laugh at me.”
Anil, who’d first met Tom in 2009 when the “M:I” star congratulated the “Slumdog” team, was Tom’s host in India. “This is not just a movie promo trip. I see it as a combination of movie promotions and the keeping of a gentleman’s word. This goes back to the Golden Globe awarded to “Slumdog Millionaire” in January 2009… Tom was the celebrity called to give away the award, and that was when I first spoke to him. We spoke about what a huge fan following he has in India, and I told him he must plan a trip. He’d promised me that he’d try to work that out. Then, when I landed a guest appearance in “M:I:4″ and met him next in LA, I reminded him of the India trip… he said he was going to have it in place shortly. I think he’s built this into his global travels this time as a conscious effort along with the studio. After all, when has a star of his stature ever come here as part of a movie promo activity?” Anil had told DT.
And it was again Anil who’d told us, ” They ( Hollywood) are shooting movies here and releasing them ahead of their domestic markets now, but India is going to get much, much bigger for them in years to come. You wait and watch.” We know – to quote Tom himself, we rock… sorry… we chattano, guys!
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-12-15/news-interviews/30516529_1_anil-kapoor-india-trip-ghost-protocol