Bollywood has found the perfect spot to set up a permanent base in the West - the lush, green countryside and watery valleys of the Scottish Highlands.

Dev Anand, 84, the veteran Bollywood heart-throb and award-winning film-maker, disclosed that he was searching for an office and studio on the outskirts of Inverness, saying that the Highlands would become a permanent hub for the Indian film industry.

“I discovered Scotland for Bollywood when I went there ten years ago. Others will follow me,” he said. In 1998 Mr Anand hired a car to drive to Scotland in search of an inspiring location where he could write a script. He found himself in the sleepy town of Pitlochry, where he wrote the script for Main Solah Baras Ki. He plans to film a romance, When Heartbeats are the Same, in the Highlands early next year.

Mr Anand has been followed by others. Between 2000 and 2003, eight Bollywood films were shot in Scotland. His recent autobiography Romancing with Life referred to Edinburgh as the prettiest city in the world. He said that he had sold 35,000 copies of the book in Scotland.

He has spoken about the ease of working in Edinburgh and how the local residents contributed to the making of his film. He said: “I needed a dancing hall, so they gave me one. In one town where we were filming, the council threw a party for us. Scotland is beautiful even when it rains.”

For his next film in Scotland, his main characters will be a father and his son. He will play the father and he is scouring Britain for an “innocent-looking 18- or 19-year-old” to play the other lead part.

Mr Anand visited the Cannes Film Festival last week, where Guide, in which he starred 43 years ago, was featured. It is one of the most enduring films of the Hindi screen.

Stageplay

Dev Anand hopes to adapt his Bollywood films for the stage and would like to join forces with Broadway producers or Andrew Lloyd Webber, who has collaborated with the Indian producer Shekhar Kapur

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