On a one-month tour of the Hills to shoot for his South movie since 6 June, superstar Rajnikanth has finally spoken about “the land of Rabindranath Tagore, Subash Chandra Bose, Paramhansh.”

As he met state Tourism Minister Gautam Deb here on Thursday, the actor said that the Hills have many beautiful places that remain unexplored.

“I hope that through my movie, the entire country will come to know what this place is,” he told reporters, adding that he was very happy to be here and meet “lovely and kind-hearted people and explore beautiful places.”

After meeting the superstar at a resort here, Minister Deb said he discussed promotion of the tourism industry through filmmakers or the film community. “Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is committed to the all-round development of the state and the Hills. As per this policy of our government, I met Rajnikanth to promote the Hills through films,” he said.

According to him, he urged the actor to shoot more of his films in the Hills. “I reminded Rajnikanth that many big banner Hindi movies like Aaradhana and Barfi have been shot here before,” he said, adding that he hoped that the Rajnikanth starrer being shot here will promote Darjeeling tourism in a big way.

He also said that the CM has already taken initiatives to make the state a destination for making films.

Actor Rajnikanth, meanwhile, said that his movie, Kaala, which has been released recently, has been doing well all over the country and abroad. Asked about some dispute regarding that film in some places of Karnataka, the superstar said the same has been sorted out and that the film has been released. It is learnt that Rajnikanth will head for Darjeeling on 16 June, and return to Kurseong on 3 July to stay at the resort and complete other shots of the film.

Anit Thapa appeal

Meanwhile, the vice-chariman of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Board of Administrators, Anit Thapa, has appealed to the Hill people to co-operate with superstar Rajnikanth as he shoots his Tamil film in the Hills.

“While superhit films had been shot in Darjeeling Hills earlier, the trend was hit because of frequent agitations and unrest here, which also hit the tourism industy ,” Mr Thapa said.

“We have been taking up various measures for the allround development of the Hills and the people here, and in comparison with previous years, a large number of tourists have visited the Darjeeling hills this time. The economy of Darjeeling Hills depends on tourism. Hence, Rajnikanth’s film will also surely promote the tourism industry and encourage other filmmakers to make their films in the Hills,” he said.