Hero Motocorp's Bollywood Action Adventure in Budapest

Mumbai-based RU Films has brought Bollywood-flavoured action to Budapest in a spot for Indian vehicle manufacturer Hero Motocorp. The ad shows Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor stoically recalling his adventures as he’s held captive by gangsters on a city bridge.

"The director set the script in Budapest as he felt the city has a beautiful mix of the old architectural landscapes that helped cinematically," said Kalpana Udyawar of RU Films.

Director Ravi Udyawar was impressed with the architecture in Budapest and the full shoot lasted five days. Kalpana Udyawar was Executive Producer for RU Films: “These locations were chosen as they were closest to what the Director had envisaged when he was putting the shoot treatment together. The idea was to feature the actor in an international location, though it is an Indian product.

“The director set the script in Budapest as he felt the city has a beautiful mix of the old architectural landscapes that helped cinematically.”

A scene involving a jump onto a moving train needed special arrangements as the team had to find an inner-city bridge over a railway. They also had to have the use of the right sort of cargo carriages, as well as making sure their safety net didn’t make contact with the railway’s high-voltage cabling.

While the crew battled the heat of summer filming on Budapest’s suspension Chain Bridge across the Danube, Bruce Willis’ action sequel A Good Day to Die Hard was filming on the Elizabeth Bridge directly south of them. This amped up the congestion and became a big shoot day for the whole city.

PPM Films' Zita Kisgergely said: “We were looking at each other! [Die Hard] had the Russian Arm speeding up and down [and] we were blocking our bridge with the crane and prepping for the stunt jump, [and] therefore blocking the Danube traffic.

“There were three helicopters in the sky at the same time – one was ours [and] the other two were for Bruce Willis!”