Trailblazer

Shooting to fame

Few people combine expertise, knowledge and insight of two industries to create a success formula. Preeti Kannan finds that this is exactly what N Ramji, MD of Travel Masters India (P) Ltd, did when he formed a synergy of the film and travel industry

A common thread that runs through the films Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, Company or Kaho Na Pyaar Hai is that their shootings abroad were all organised by Travel Masters India (P) Ltd.

It all began in 1980 when N Ramji, MD, Travel Masters India (P) Ltd, was fascinated by cinema and wanted to become a film star. He set out as a young, striving actor eager to be a part of the celluloid magic. After five years in showbiz, Ramji had acted in about 40 films but with no big offers coming his way he felt disoriented. "At 27, I found myself at crossroads where I had lost five precious years of my life with no real qualifications," says Ramji.

On the advice of friends, he joined a travel agency, Travel Corporation of India, but felt like a misfit. "After a life of glamour and glitz, I was lost in the corporate world. I was thought to be influential because of my long affiliation with the film fraternity but I didn't have any expertise in the travel field. So I resigned from my job before they could fire me," Ramji quips.

Stars smile down

When all odds were against him and with uncertainty hanging precariously in front of him, Ramji got an unexpected break after a friend from the film industry asked him to book a couple of air tickets. He then went on to join Cathay Pacific's GSA as a sales official and was later approached by a Telugu filmmaker to play the role of a baddie while simultaneously booking tickets for the crew shooting abroad.

Ramji acknowledges that he was completely at ease while doing so. "I was arranging only a small part of travel but I realised that I was good at it. That was when I decided I would mix my knowledge of travel and the movie industry," avers the enterprising travel agent. He was soon organising a month-long shoot in Singapore with no one except himself to handle the project. He had to approach different ministries to get funds sanctioned for outdoor shoots. While ticketing for Cathay Pacific, he started doing one movie shoot a year.

He later moved on to Pan American Airlines and soon enough started Travel Masters in 1991 with the expertise and insight of the travel trade and outdoor shooting he had earned so far. The company aimed at being a one-stop solution for travel needs for directors looking out for exotic locales. From tickets to visas, logistics, forex, food to hotel stay - everything was taken care of by Travel Masters.

At a time and age when shooting in exotic locales outside India was unheard of, Ramji ventured into unexplored territories, organising shoots for Telgu, Tamil, Malayalam and Bollywood films. Today, he is synonymous with Bollywood as well as the South Indian film industry for arranging film shoots abroad and has to his credit more than 600 films.

Leading the way

Switzerland was a hotspot for film directors only six months in a year and they wanted something exotic for shooting during the remaining months. Ramji had read a little about New Zealand's beauty and decided to look up the place himself. He found it perfect for filming and came back with pictorial books about the country to distribute it among the film fraternity. Directors jumped at the idea and were soon packing their crews to New Zealand.

Soon Travel Masters became the first Indian company to arrange film shoots in not only New Zealand but Ireland, Turkey, Romania, Russia and a host of other places as well. "Each of these trips has to be tailormade to suit the crew and the actors. We have to plan every aspect of their stay, sometimes even suggesting different locations to directors. It is a challenging and exciting job to ensure that everybody's needs are met," Ramji observes.

Not only do these outdoor shoots add to the film's appeal, the tourism boards of these countries also get a lot of publicity. While Travel Masters' niche is the film industry, the company also caters to a large corporate clientele and FITs. The company has branches in Hyderabad and is now looking at expanding in Bangalore. Travel Masters in Mumbai too has become a separate entity bearing the same name.

Ask Ramji about shooting in India and he asserts that he is open to the idea. The only hitch where Indian locations are concerned is the issue of getting permissions and clearances and most directors are wary of the bureaucratic procedures. After more than 600 films under Ramji's belt in the last 15 years, there are no signs of slowing down-even before I wind up, he has started scouting for new locations on his computer, perhaps even Indian locations this time.