<i>Krrish</i> in Chinese and Malay

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Singapore (UNI): Film producer and director Rakesh Roshan today said he will dub his latest 10 million dollar film Krrish into Chinese and Malay if the distributors see the need. 'We will dub it in Chinese'' if the distributor asked for it, Mr Roshan said at a press conference called today, ahead of his campaign to promote the film in major cities with a large following for Indian films. Krrish will premier in Singapore on Thursday, June 22.

Mr Roshan said he has already awarded the rights to dub the film in Tamil, Telugu, Spanish and German languages and would likely do so for Malay language as Indian films have large followings in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. r Roshan, along with Hrithik Roshan, his son and Krrish hero and the film heroine Priyanka Chopra, is in Singapore as the first of the publicity stops for the film. The trio would be visiting Dubai and London this week. Krrish is a sequel to the 2004 hit film, Koi Mil Gaya. It is the first Indian mega movie filmed under the Singapore Tourism Board's ''Film in Singapore! Scheme''. About 60 per cent of the movie was shot here for 65 days from September to November last year.

''Krrish showcases Singapore in a very unique light and I'm proud to show that to audiences the world over,'' Mr Roshan told reporters from Indian and international media. 'The diversity of scenes made Singapore an obvious choice when I was considering locations. It is a decision that has paid off handsomely. It was a breeze filming in Singapore, thanks to its efficiency and well developed infrastructure,'' he said. Mr. Roshan and the Singapore Tourism Board worked out an arrangement in 2004 to shoot most of Krrish in Singapore.

As the title character gifted with superpowers by an alien, Hrithik has never looked more athletic than in Krrish, he said. Hrithik performed all the major stunts for the physically demanding role himself, including jumping from bumboat to bumboat along the historic Singapore River while in pursuit of the film's villain, Dr Siddhant Arya, played by veteran actor Mr Naseeruddin Shah. Showing the results of intensive training in Hong Kong and Shanghai with Chinese stunt director Tony Ching, Hrithik had also run the circumference of the towering Fountain of Wealth at Singapore's Suntec City, a major commercial and shopping hub in the central business district.

The stunning Priyanka plays Hrithik's love interest, a broadcast journalist named Priya. It was the former Miss World's first extended visit to Singapore after a brief stopover previously. Priyanka said she revisited Singapore for holidays just two months after completing the film in November. 'Krrish' will be released worldwide from Friday, June 23. In Singapore, it will be shown at four Shaw cinemas, namely Jade, Jurong, Tampines and Woodlands, the main residential and housing towns. To mark the movie's release, special Krrish tours of Singapore will be available, the Singapore Tourism Board said.

The itinerary traces the movie trail and uncovers the interesting locales such as the Singapore Zoo where they come face to face with the Orangutans, explore Sentosa where one of the Krrish soundtracks was filmed and to the numerous venues where the dangerous stunts were performed, such as Suntec City, Lau Pa Sat Festival Market, and the Singapore River, the Board said. Tie-ups have been sealed with Singapore ground operators to present visitors with a truly unique experience as they relive the Krrish experience firsthand, it said aiming for the growing number of Indian tourists visiting Singapore, averaging more than 500,000 in 2005.

Krrish is part of the Board's 10 million Singapore dollars fund for the ''Film in Singapore! Scheme'' which aims to encourage leading international filmmakers and broadcasters to shoot and produce movies, television programmes and music videos in Singapore. The scheme will subsidise up to a maximum of 50 per cent the expenses incurred by international film companies during their shoots in Singapore.