According to Mr Nandcoomar Bodha, Minister of Tourism of Mauritius, who is heading the delegation, it plans to meet Yash Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Romesh Sharma, Danny Dengzongpa, Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai and Yash Johar among others. The agenda of the meeting is to mainly interest Indian film producers to chose Mauritius as a preferred locale for shooting and apprise them of the latest facilities being offered for filming in that country.

The Mauritius Film & Broadcasting Development Corporation, which aids the visiting film crews, is working towards streamlining its procedures to facilitate the film industry, especially producers from India. According to Mr Bodha, the Ministries of Tourism and Arts & Culture are due to meet shortly to introduce a one-stop-shop to cater to all the requirements of a visiting film production unit. Apart from the required permits and police clearances to shoot, they are offered all logistic support, including travel and stay arrangements, crew, sophisticated equipment including lighting, use of cars, helicopters and other props, facilities to dub and other post production jobs etc from a single-window. Now a film unit can arrive in Mauritius with just their key artists and equipment, while everything else will be organised for them to enable them go back with a finished product, said Mr Bodha. "We want at least one film being shot at any given day in our country", he said.

Therefore, we are creating conditions that are conducive to help producers concentrate on film-making and not be hassled by routine administrative work, he added.

Mauritius, where unlike in India one can shoot anywhere in the country free of charge, is already a favourite locale with film producers here. Starting with Sanjay Khan who shot `Sona Chandi' there in the 70s, many Hindi and Tamil films have been shot at Mauritius including the blockbuster Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Hum, Chal Mere Bhai etc. Some of the favourite locales are Caudan Waterfront, Panplemouses Garden, its picturesque parks and beaches including Grandbay, Ile Aux Cerfs, University of Mauritius etc.

Film producer Mr Romesh Sharma, who shot many films here, has even set up a full-fledged studio in Mauritius. According to Mr Christopher T Najbicz, general manager of Labourdonnais, the hotel which was the location of Shahrukh Khan's residence in the Hindi film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, the Indian film crews (of 25 to 80 members) stay there anywhere between four days to a month. They generally choose the low season from April to June, so as to avail maximum corporate discounts offered for hotel stay ( 20 to 40 per cent) and airfare (up to 50 per cent), he said.