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It is understood that long delays in securing
vital filming permissions with a myriad of government
and railway ministries had scuppered the production plans,
and that those sequences will now be transposed to South
Africa, which had long been talked about as a backup
location for India. In recent weeks, publicists for the
South African film industry went as far as to mock
the delays and hold-ups with the Indian authorities.
A day after the news was published, India
Railways - who were the last to hold out on granting Bond
23 permissions and were making demands such as Daniel
Craig becoming brand ambassador - hit back in the press
that it wasn't their fault. Chandralekha Mukherjee, executive
director, information and publicity, Indian Railways, told
the Times
of India, "We'd given them all the permissions.
They wanted to shoot in the Sabarmati yard and had asked
to shoot on two gauges - broad gauge and meter gauge -
and they wanted these for seven-hour stretches every day
for seven days in a row, and we'd agreed. All had been
worked out. They also wanted to shoot between Mumbai and
Goa on the hero train, and wanted a special shot where a
motorcycle from a bridge would jump on to a train,
and the coach on which he'd jump needed to be re-enforced,
and we agreed." |
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