The Mariyinsky Palace in Kyiv is blue. It is the residence of the president of Ukraine and was also a key setting in the recent Indian blockbuster RRR.
The palace and surrounding park were the setting for one of the most ambitious sequences in the big-budget film, which featured renowned actors like Ram Charan Teja, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, 50 dancers, 300 extras and an orchestra.
Filming in Ukraine was the idea of “location expert” Ramji Natarajan. In the capital Kyiv, 1,000 people from the film crew stayed there for 27 days to shoot the scenes, and Natarajan arranged accommodation for all of them.
Ramji's responsibility was to both find a suitable location and handle logistics for nearly 1,000 people.
Since the 1980s, Natarajan has helped 1,000 films shoot in 75 different countries. His responsibility is to provide unique and cost-effective locations for filmmakers.
"I've visited Middle Eastern markets. I've also been to the Colosseum. Another day, I walked in the middle of the Sahara desert, enjoying the cool water from the oasis," Natarajan said.
Bollywood films often involve lots of song, dance and action, so many Indian filmmakers prefer overseas locations, where crowds are easier to manage and getting permission to shoot is often much simpler than in India.
Before 1996, not many filmmakers went abroad. But in 1996, the Indian government made it easier to go abroad to shoot films. Since then, beautiful locations like Switzerland have become popular among Indian filmmakers.
His first location scouting project was for the film Rudranetra, which was shot in Malaysia and Singapore in 1988. “That was the beginning of my journey as a location specialist,” he says.
Natarajan started his career as an actor but did not make much of a mark. He then founded Travel Masters India in 1991. His job was not just about scouting for film locations. It involved advising clients on locations, arranging tickets, booking hotels, getting visas, moving technical equipment, advising on tax breaks, discounts, moving a crew of up to 100 people and managing all other activities surrounding the shoot.
He started his career as an actor but did not leave much of an impression.
“I always visit a location before presenting it to my clients, followed by numerous discussions with the director, producer and crew. Generally, it takes at least three trips to locate and start shooting,” he explains.
Some of the rare locations Natarajan has visited include: the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia - where a dance sequence for the film Sarrainodu (2016) was shot; a remote black sand beach in Iceland for the hit song Gerua, featured in Rohit Shetty's film Dilwale (2015).
According to an article in the Hindustan Times, the film Dilwale is responsible for a significant increase in Indian tourists to Iceland. These films act as free publicity for the countries in which they are shot. Natarajan has taken producers and directors everywhere from Lake Baikal in Siberia, to East Java in Indonesia, Machu Picchu in Peru and North Macedonia, but things don't always go as planned.
“Once, when we went to Uzbekistan, our cameras and equipment were confiscated at the airport. It was a terrible experience. Sometimes, if your local partners are not strong, they will let you down badly,” he recalled.
Natarajan’s work has made him an expert at finding cost-effective alternatives. For example, for the 2017 action thriller Mersal, he helped convert the Macedonian National Theatre in Skopje into Paris’s Palais Garnier opera house. With a crew of 1,000 and a 10-day shoot, Natarajan estimates that filming in Paris would have cost 10 times as much as filming in North Macedonia.
Or when producers need skilled technicians and snowy Canadian mountains, Natarajan suggests Bulgaria, where Shivaay (2016) was shot, or Azerbaijan, where the cities can easily rival Dubai or Paris – especially at night. The people are also extremely friendly, which makes filming easier.
According to him, his most valuable asset is his 16 passports, filled with visa stamps from all over the world. He has been to 140 countries, met heads of state and has been honored as a tourism ambassador by countries such as Switzerland and Spain.
His special job allows him to travel around the world.
He was one of the first to arrange for Bollywood films to be shot in the southern hemisphere. Between 1997 and 2010, he arranged 145 sequences in New Zealand – which doubled as Switzerland during the winter.
He has 30 projects in eight countries in the pipeline. “I am looking at finding locations for films outside India – like Japanese films, which need to be shot in Europe.”
“What I like about this job is that it is full of rich experiences and knowledge. With this job, I have time to explore a new place by myself. Every day is different, and it gives me the opportunity to meet people from many countries. I feel that the real wealth is to travel, because it gives you deep knowledge and understanding of the world. That is priceless,” he shared.
