There’s something else heating up Malaysia – it’s show business.
HANDS up if you have heard of Indian Summers, the TV series.
No? Then, how about Downton Abbey? Yes? Well, Indian Summers is the new Downton Abbey.
At least that’s what the critics say. I am merely reporting it because I haven’t seen this series by Britain’s Channel 4. It hasn’t been screened locally even though its second season has started airing in Britain.
And that’s a real bummer because what is really special about the series is its Malaysian connection: it was shot almost entirely in Penang. That much was reported in 2014 by the local media, including The Star.
After that, it went silent which is strange because Indian Summers is big in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – pretty much the English-speaking world.
But first a quick primer on what the series is about. It’s set in the dying days of British rule in India circa 1930s and specifically in Shimla, a hill station in the Himalayan foothills, much like how Fraser’s and Cameron Highlands were hill stations for the Brits in Malaya to cool off.
Leading the cast is British actress Julie Walters, probably most familiar to Malaysians as Ron Weasley’s mother in the Harry Potter movies.
Anu Anand, writing in theguardian.com, says Shimla (or Simla, as the British called it) was known as Chhota Vilayat or Little England and, in Rudyard Kipling’s words, a “centre of power as well as pleasure”.
“A hotbed of political, social and romantic intrigue set amid rolling hills, no place encapsulates the global ambitions as well as the parochial desires of the Raj better than Shimla,” adds Anand.
Walters plays Cynthia Coffin who is the doyenne of the fictitious Royal Simla Club where a lot of the intrigue takes place.
How Penang Hill, the Botanical Gardens, Suffolk House and Armenian Street in George Town ended standing in for Shimla is an amazing tale.
According to Indian Summers executive producer Charlie Pattinson, the real Shimla in India had become too modernised and built up and they worried about the monsoon season there.
“On literally the last day of my location scouting, having considered Sri Lanka and travelled around a lot of India, Singapore and Malaysia, I went up Penang Hill and breathed a sigh of relief.
“These properties were in a time warp: they absolutely summed up the idea of the British transporting their identity to a foreign land,” Pattinson says in a locationguide.com article.
What they found on Penang Hill, according to series director Anand Tucker, were “these amazing old colonial buildings that were literally falling to pieces”.
These included the dilapidated Crag Hotel (it was turned into the Uplands boarding school for expat children during the Emergency) which had its last hurrah in the 1992 Catherine Deneuve movie, Indochine, and Woodside Bungalow.
Tucker says finding “this beautiful old world and bringing it back to life by restoring the buildings as the sets was an incredible gift”.
One can safely assume part of Indian Summers budget of £14mil (RM82mil), reputedly making it Channel 4’s most expensive drama, was well spent on the detailed restoration work. (Check out http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/slideshow/indian-summers-s1-e1-locations-before-after/ for highlights of the transformation.)
The production support company is a local outfit called Biscuit Films and I happen to know the co-owner, Bill Donovan.
Bill’s Petaling Jaya-based company was hired by New Pictures, which produced the series for Channel 4, to handle the logistics, which included getting permission from the state government and other owners to use their properties as locations.
In an ironic way, it was neglect and lack of development that made Penang Hill perfect for Indian Summers.
Yet, to be fair, the state government was savvy enough to see the opportunity to get someone else to repair the buildings and earn some good rent money. Bill attests the Government was “really, really supportive”.
His delight at Indian Summers’ success was obvious even over the phone. They have signed with the Penang government to use the locations for five years and now that the series is a success, it could run that long. And that means Penang will benefit hugely from the fame. Already, there are plenty of media reports that the series is being filmed not in India but in Penang, Malaysia.
TripAdvisor has many posts from fans on the various location sites as must-visits, including a golf cart tour of the hill to look at the refurbished buildings and immaculate lawns.
There are also numerous articles on Indian Summers and how Penang got the job. Former Uplands students are nostalgically revisiting their alma mater via the series and sharing on social media.
Other benefits, says Bill, are the experience and job opportunities for locals on such international film projects.
“Our people get to work with talented foreign crews that provide great training and with each new job, they move up,” he says.
What’s more, Tucker says all the furnishings for the sets were made by Penang craftsmen, as were the handmade costumes.
New Pictures has also shared its positive filming experience in Malaysia, which has helped raise the country’s profile. Bill reveals he’s laying the groundwork for another big budget series to be filmed in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi. He won’t say more than that, for now.
Malaysia’s unique racial make-up makes it easy for Penang to substitute India. Similarly, Ang Lee could choose George Town and Ipoh to mimic 1940s Hong Kong for his 2007 movie, Lust, Caution. The directors for both series and film had no problems getting Indians and Chinese as extras. It is Malaysia, truly Asia at its opportune best.
Penang is not the only state basking in the limelight. Netflix’s Marco Polo was filmed at Pinewood Studios in Johor. That provided lots of creative jobs; Johoreans signed up as extras, together with our soldiers who acted as Mongol warriors.
Biscuit Films was also involved and Bill says that series too did well enough for a second season.
As locationguide.com says, Malaysia is becoming more popular as an international filming location.
That’s helped by the Government’s production incentives, like the 30% cash rebate, which are said to be among the most generous in the world.
It’s a great way to supplement our national and private coffers with good, clean foreign funds and as they say, there’s no business like show business!
Aunty is planning a visit to Penang and will attempt to see ‘Simla’ on the hill. She hopes Astro will pick up the series for Malaysia. Feedback to aunty@thestar.com.my
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