Lights, camera, India!

For decades, Bollywood has been flocking to foreign destinations — from the Far East to Europe and the United States — often at the expense of ignoring beautiful places in India.

But move aside Bollywood — it's time now for Hollywood to start exploring Indian shores.

Due to globalisation, there has been a rise in the number of Hollywood movies being shot in India.

In fact, Indian locations came into the limelight with the twin Hollywood projects Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982) and the Roger Moore-starrer James Bond flick Octopussy (1983), shot in north Indian locations.

Again, it took Patrick Swayze's City of Joy (1992) to bring into focus the east-Indian city of Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta).

There was a lull in Tinseltown after this but in the past decade Hollywood has again opened up to visiting India, with stars such as Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon, Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody coming down to shoot..

Let's check out Hollywood's favourite destinations in India when it comes to shooting and some of the major films shot in famous locations:

RAJASTHAN: This is definitely the most popular destination for Hollywood films. In fact, this state is one of Asia's most popular tourist spots.

Rajasthan lies in the lap of the vast Thar Desert and has a rich history, culture and tradition. With some beautiful surroundings and heritage sites, Rajasthan has some amazing sites to offer filmmakers.

The lakes in Udaipur (the Lake City), the palaces in Jaipur (the Pink City), Jodhpur (the Sun City), the desert areas of Jaisalmer and, of course, the famous Palace on Wheels luxury train are just some of the attractions that Hollywood can't ignore.

Octopussy captured the scenic beauty of Udaipur as it shot in the palaces at the Jagmandir and Jagniwas islands amid Lake Pichola.

The award-winning movie The Warrior (2001), starring Irrfan Khan, and Mira Nair's Vanity Fair (2004), starring Reese Witherspoon, were shot in the beautiful locales of Rajasthan.

One Night with the King (2006) had its plot based in the Middle East and the deserts of Rajasthan were found the best alternative to Gulf sands.

The Fall (2007) by Tarsem Singh (director of Jennifer Lopez's path-breaking thriller The Cell) stunningly captured the beauty of Jodhpur.

Last year, Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited, starring Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman, was shot in the Palace on Wheels and may well have influenced many Westerners to take a trip around Rajasthan on this luxury train.

Salman Khan's first international project, Marigold (2007) co-starring Ali Larter and directed by Willard Carol was shot at Jodhpur and the famous Khimsar Fort bordering the Thar Desert.

AGRA: When it comes to awareness overseas, no one would have been aware of the city of Agra had it not been for the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Tourists from all over the world flock to visit this magnificent white marble monument. This is also one of the prime reasons for Hollywood filmmakers to go to Agra other than for shooting at the Taj Mahal on the banks of the Yamuna River.

The Agra Fort is also a lure but ranks second in importance to the Taj Mahal — Octopussy and Gandhi did do a good job of promoting the latter.

The Oscar-nominated A Little Princess (1995) was also shot at the Taj Mahal and Sharon Stone's The Last Dance (1996) and Singh's The Fall were shot in Agra.

Moreover, the recently released The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, included a visit to the Taj Mahal as part of its India itinerary.

NEW DELHI: Being the capital of India, New Delhi has always had prominence when it comes to films centred on Indian diplomacy and politics, such as Gandhi and the 2007 English flick Partition.

Old Delhi is fascinating because of its culture and historic landmarks, which provide Hollywood films with an interesting backdrop.

A glimpse of the Red Fort is enough to capture the flavour of this city.

Delhi gives a true peek into Indian life and this was captured in Kate Winslet's Holy Smoke (1999), Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding (2001) and the critically acclaimed Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005).

Moreover, a glimpse of Delhi can also be seen in the 2004 movie Day After Tomorrow.

GOA: This place is considered the most exotic place in India due to its sunny beaches and tourist-friendly environment.

The Portuguese ruled Goa until 1961 and left behind a strong influence that can be felt even today — and this suits Western sensibilities well. It is no wonder, then, that Goa attracts Western filmmakers.

The Hollywood flick that gave Goa's fame a boost was Matt Damon's The Bourne Supremacy.

The film wonderfully captured the lazy Goan beaches and the action sequence shot in the bylanes of Panjim caught the attention of moviegoers the world over.

There are also talks of a film to be made on the Scarlett Keeling murder case in Goa, which, along with capturing the beautiful Goan beaches, may depict its dark side as well.

MUMBAI: Of course, how could Hollywood skip Mumbai, the hub of Bollywood and the financial capital of India?

All major Bollywood studios are based in Mumbai, which means any sort of infrastructural or technical support and manpower required to shoot a film in India has to be sourced from Mumbai.

The landmarks in Mumbai, such as the Gateway of India, have a special place in Hollywood films.

Gandhi was shot mostly in Mumbai and, of recent films, Angelina Jolie's A Mighty Heart zoomed in on Mumbai and Pune as its choice destinations.

Since some of the sequences in A Mighty Heart could not be shot in Pakistan due to security reasons, sets were replicated in Mumbai, which passed off as Karachi and Islamabad in the film.

But the biggest Hollywood film to be shot in Mumbai or, for that matter, in India, will be Mira Nair's Shantaram, starring Hollywood heartthrob Johnny Depp and Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan. The film is due to be out in 2009.

In fact, this film is also expected to be shot in India's IT cities Hyderabad and Bangalore and at the famous historic sites of Hampi in the southern state of Karnataka.

OTHER LOCALES: Besides these places, films such as City of Joy and Namesake have captured bits and pieces of Kolkata.

Kerala, also known as God's Own Country for its natural beauty and famous backwaters, was depicted in all its splendour in the art-house project Cotton Mary (1999).

And Simla, the popular north-Indian hill station, was shown in the films A Little Princess and The Warrior.

So be prepared to watch more of India in Hollywood in the coming days.

— Abdulla Mahmood is a UAE-based freelance writer