Bollywood film crew shoots dramatic car chase in Birmingham city centre
A Bollywood film crew has been spotted in Birmingham city centre shooting a dramatic car chase scene for new movie Taish.
Indian director Bejoy Nambiar has arrived in town to shoot the Bollywood romantic revenge thriller.
It comes three years after hit blockbuster Ready Player One was filmed in Livery Street in the city, directed by Steven Spielberg.
Spielberg's production village took up the whole of the car park off Lionel Street – where this new Bollywood movie is also being filmed.
Backed by Film Birmingham and Birmingham City Council, Bejoy's production doesn't quite take up as much space but still looks impressive.
Taish is described as a story of friendship and loss of innocence narrated in the format of an intense thriller.
Worlds collide when childhood friends Rohan and Sunny get tangled up with violent money lenders from London Kulkinder, Pali and Jassi.
Marshals, runners, stunt co-ordinators, actors and the rest of the crew have all been spotted busy at work in Lionel Street – with camera crews shooting a dramatic car chase sequence on a single street.
The chase itself involved two men dressed in black on a fast motorbike chasing a car as three other vehicles travelled in the opposite direction at the same time.
In another scene, two men used buckets of water from a giant trailer tank ready for a near 360 degree stunt on Mary Ann Street.
Bejoy Nambiar said he was delighted to be shooting in Birmingham and had re-written part of the script to accommodate the local network of railways bridges and canal tunnels.
He said: "Film Birmingham and Birmingham City Council have been really helpful.
"We could not have shot this quickly anywhere else.
"The story could be set anywhere in England, but Birmingham has a lot of character.
"I loved the area around the Custard Factory in Digbeth so we have been shooting there, too. I like the architecture so much.
Bejoy said he was proud to be following in Spielberg's footsteps as well as shooting in the home city of Peaky Blinders.
All parking was suspended in the area to allow shooting which w as due to finish on Thursday.
Filming on Taish began in late July. After Birmingham, it will move on to Somerset's HM Prison Shepton Mallet before production wraps.
The budget for Taish, which has a crew of more than 120 people, is around £1.2 million according to Birmingham-based line manager Vijay Gulwani.
The film is due for release in 2020.
