Abu Dhabi Film Commission (ADFC) is supporting the first Malayalam film project, a comedy, 'Athar and Madhavan Nair' being directed by veteran Bollywood filmmaker Priyadarshan and to be shot entirely in the UAE capital.

The movie has veteran Indian actor and producer Mohanlal in the lead with Karthika Menon. A 60-member film crew is currently shooting in Abu Dhabi, it added.

ADFC said the production company Media 7 has invited UAE-based filmmakers and students to join the production as interns to help them gain experience of working on a major Indian film set.

“We are pleased to have this high profile Indian movie in Abu Dhabi and welcome the opportunity offered by the production team to host trainees and interns on the set,” said ADFC director David Shepheard.

ADFC assists with the development of the Film and TV industry in Abu Dhabi, promoting the variety of potential locations for local and international productions, and providing assistance in script clearances and advice on approvals, initial scouting for potential locations, permits for filming in public locations and support for location filming.

It has provided all filming permits and locations support for the team, facilitating negotiations between Abu Dhabi Government agencies and the Police for filming in different locations in the capital, Al Ain and the western region, said Shepheard.

'We are extremely grateful to the ADFC for their hard work and support in ensuring everything goes to plan. The process has been going smoothly and, all in all, using Abu Dhabi as a filming location has been an enjoyable and worthwhile decision,' the production team said.

On his choice of location, Priyadarshan said, 'I wanted to shoot somewhere with a lot of desert, and Abu Dhabi was the perfect fit. The city is a friendly place to shoot with wide fields of desert and greenery.'

'Crucially, there is a huge population and audience from Southern India in the GCC that can relate to the film and its scenes and therefore it made more sense to shoot such a film here, rather than in Europe or Australia,' he remarked.

'I appreciate the ADFC’s contribution and must thank them for all their hard work and support during filming. I was able to shoot and get permits for locations on time meaning I was not late for production,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service