Feb. 29, 2024
Aamir Khan is set to travel to Japan to oversee the development of his elder son Junaid Khan's upcoming untitled second film. By K Dass.
Japan - Japan has extended its first official
location production incentive scheme for a second year, aiming to attract
international films, high-end TV shows, and streaming projects to shoot within
its borders. As part of this initiative, the country has lent its support to
the upcoming Indian feature film One Day, produced by Bollywood
superstar Aamir Khan.
One Day is an Indian remake of a 2016 Thai
film with the same title. Directed by Sunil Pandey, this romantic drama stars
Sai Pallavi and Junaid Khan. The film was shot on location in the cities of
Sapporo and Otaru in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands. In the
movie, Aamir Khan portrays a shy police officer who pretends to be the
boyfriend of a woman with short-term memory loss, all to spend just one day
with her. The production is carried out by Aamir Khan Productions.
The location
production incentive scheme, a collaboration between Japan’s Ministry of
Economy, Trade, and Industry, the Visual Industry Promotion Organization
(VIPO), and the Japan Film Commission (JFC), offers financial support to
eligible projects. To qualify, projects must spend at least JPY500 million
(approximately $3.3 million) on production costs in Japan, or their total
production costs must exceed JPY1 billion (around $6.6 million), with direct
production costs in Japan exceeding JPY200 million (about $1.3 million). Reimbursement
covers up to 50% of qualifying expenditure in the country.
This year,
the application period will take place over three rounds: March 4-15, May 20 to
June 7, and August 26 to September 13. However, the program will end when the
grant budget has been expended, which may occur before all three rounds are
completed. The total budget has not been disclosed. Applications must be
submitted by Japanese production groups and companies that have collaborated
with overseas production companies or contracted with them. Overseas
applications are not accepted.
Eligible
projects include those that benefit the Japanese content industry through local
employment or use of local studios, are shot in Japan, promote the location
where filming took place, and contribute to the global promotion of Japanese
works. Last year’s launch of the scheme supported various projects, including
Sony Pictures’ Gran Turismo, two seasons of HBO Max’s crime drama Tokyo Vice,
and the upcoming Apple TV+ series Sunny, a dark comedy starring Rashida
Jones from A24, among others.