Buoyed
by
the
four
Oscars
bagged
by
Ang
Lee's
Life
of
Pi,
large
chunk
of
which
was
shot
in
locales
here,
the
Puducherry
Government
is
planning
to
cash
in
on
the
popularity
of
the
India
set
drama
to
woo
tourists.
To
start
with,
Lee
and
other
members
of
his
team
are
to
be
felicitated
by
the
union
territory
government.
The
date
of
felicitation
would
be
decided
in
consultation
with
Lee
and
others
and
according
to
their
convenience,
Puducherry
Tourism
Minister
P
Rajavelu
told
reporters
on
Wednesday
today.
Expressing
his
joy
and
jubilation
over
the
movie
bagging
the
Oscars
for
Best
Direction,
Best
Cinematography,
Best
Music
and
Best
Visual
Effects
at
the
85th
Academy
Awards,
he
said
the
film
had
brought
to
focus
Puducherry
abroad.
The
movie,
the
story
of
a
shipwrecked
Indian
boy,
had
met
with
good
response
in
China,
Hong
Kong,
Taiwan
and
a
few
other
countries,
he
said.
"We
hope
that
we
would
be
able
to
attract
a
large
number
of
foreign
tourists
and
we
would
also
develop
the
locations
where
the
movie
was
filmed
here
into
excellent
tourist
spots
with
the
assistance
from
the
Union
Tourism
Ministry," he
said.
Continue
reading
on
the
slideshow...
Life
of
Pi
The
locations
where
the
film
was
shot
include
more
than
a
century
old
botanical
garden,
the
12th
century
temple
of
Tirukameeswar
at
Villianoor
near
here
and
the
136-year-old
Calve
College
Higher
Secondary
School.
Life
of
Pi
Rajavelu
felicitated
the
boy
Ganesh
Kesav,
a
student
in
a
private
school
here
who
was
a
stand-in
in
the
movie
for
the
main
character
and
said
the
Tamil
version
of
the
film
was
also
screened
in
Puducherry.
Life
of
Pi
Tourism
Secretary
WVR
Moorthy,
who
was
also
present,
said
a
Life
of
Pi
campaign
would
be
held
on
a
sustained
basis
in
Puducherry
and
a
hop-in
tourist
vehicle
would
also
be
pressed
into
service
in
Puducherry
through
Tourism
Department.
Life
of
Pi
Rajavelu
said
the
government
was
in
the
process
of
establishing
a
Film
City
on
an
extent
of
100
acres
at
Moorthykuppam.
Life
of
Pi
Life
of
Pi
stars
Suraj
Sharma,
Irrfan
Khan,
Tabu,
Rafe
Spall
and
Gérard
Depardieu
in
the
cast.