Spain Benefits With The Success Of ZNMD

Spain is seeking to leverage on the sucess of the Bollywood hit Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara to promote the country associated with bull fights and flamenco dancing as many of the dramatic scenes in the film are tempting Indians to experience it in real life.
The Tourism Office of Spain, which saw around 75,000 visitors from India last year, was quick to spot the opportunity during the making of the film that’s raking in big bucks at the box office now.
“The theme of the movie was about a holiday in Spain. We saw it fits with the storyline and we collaborated with the producers of the film,” Madhu Saliankar, market analyst at Tourism of Spain Mumbai, said over phone.
The team of ‘ZNMD’ toured the country for two-and-half months to shoot the film
Directed by Zoya Akhtar, the film is about three friends - played by Abhay Deol, Hrithik Roshan and Farhan Akhtar, who take off for on an extended, adventurous bachelors’ party in Spain. The trio undertakes a picturesque road journey to the cities of Costa Brava, Seville and Pamplona to try out an adventure sport of each person’s choice, and they also make time for the Tomatino festival in Bunyol.
The deep sea diving, sky diving and the dangerous running with the bulls have been captured beautifully in the film, tempting the viewers to fly there and experience it in real life.
The team of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara stayed in Spain for about two and a half months to shoot the film and the Tomatina festival was re-created for the shoot in Bunyol, Valencia, Spain.
Producer Ritesh Sidhwani said,”To recreate the Tomatina festival, we had to call for some 16 tonnes of tomatoes from Portugal as the tomatoes in Spain were not ripe.”
For the scene, 24 tonnes of tomato puree were used and it was shot in the same location where the festival actually takes place on the last Wednesday of August.
“We had to shut the town down. The residents of Bunyol were extremely sweet and in turn they celebrated Tomatina twice last year…once for Spain and once for India,” said Zoya.  Source
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Hrithik & Katrina Had To Shoot On A Nude Beach In Spain

Imagine what happens when the hottest Indian stars, Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif, shoot on a nude beach! The duo had a tough time shooting on the Lloret De Mar, Costa Brava beach in Spain for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara . And before you assume anything… they were fully clothed!
When Hrithik and Katrina along with Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol were told by director Zoya Akhtar that they had to shoot on the beach for two days continuously, they were fine with it until they reached the location. It is Katrina’s introductory shot. The three boys see her for the first time on the beach and Farhan walks up to strike a conversation with her.
When Zoya had done a recce for the film 6-8 months before the shoot, the beach was nearly empty. So she did not anticipate any problems. However the scene was being shot during vacation time when there were a lot of people roaming in nude on the nude and it became problematic to film the scene.
A unit-member from the film’s crew says, “The beach is mesmerizing with white sand and Zoya Akhtar was sure she wanted to capture this in her film. But when the cast and crew reached on the location they felt awkward. They felt overtly clad and rather odd amongst the rest on the beach who were nude. Moreover the unit had to ensure that nobody comes into their frame”.
“However within couple of hours the unit forgot where they were shooting and got down to work. It was really crazy at the beginning with no one knowing where to frame, where to sit and where to put things. But after shooting among the Adams and Eves for 12 hours, we all got used to the scenes in front of us.”
Ask Zoya Akhtar about this particular scene and she reminisces, “It was a task to ensure that that no one else was in frame, as we did not want to go under the scanner of the censor board. So the entire crew was on high alert”.
The unit-member adds, “It was a beautiful white sand beach and even though they could make-do by shooting elsewhere, logistically this beach was most convenient.”  Source
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