India's Longest Ever Ad Shot in Budapest

Mumbai production house Curious has filmed India’s longest-ever commercial in a Budapest prison for digital TV provider Tata Sky. The three-and-a-half-minute spot shows inmates in an Indian prison launching an escape attempt to see an India-Pakistan cricket match.

Curious considered filming locations all over the world, including the iconic Alcatraz in San Francisco, but a need for more flexible shooting times and a specific aesthetic eventually led them to Hungary and Budapest.

Filming ended up focussing on an un-used wing of Budapest’s Kozma prison and in a former psychiatric hospital, while exteriors were filmed at Komarom Castle on the border with Slovakia.

“We used some of the corridors of the former hospital to match the original grey-red features of the prison,” explains Zita Kisgergely of PPM Film Productions: “Here we chose the former activity area for the washing room scenes and the canteen. As the building has not been in use for years, one can say that it served as a studio – we needed massive set design and a huge amount of set dressing.”

"The locations sent to us were apt for the treatment of the film and we also had the option of filming in a real jail, which was perfect. The exteriors at Komarov were an added bonus," said Shahzad Bhagwagar of Curious.

A team of artists from London-based Parkour Generations was taken on to perform the very physical escape scenes. The company is a veteran of commercials for brands such as Toyota, Chevrolet and Sony, as well as major features like World War Z and The Amazing Spider-Man.

A choreography team spent a few days in Budapest before the shoot to plan their specific movements around the architecture of the buildings. Filming long shoot days in freezing weather conditions was one of the biggest challenges.

“For professional athletes on a shoot,” comments Parkour Generations’ Director Dan Edwardes, “this presents us with the challenge of having to stay warm and ready for action for up to 12 hours at a time. That’s something that takes a lot of skill and knowledge and not everyone is capable of it – but neglect it and you’re heading for an injury or, at best, poor performance and a ponderous shoot.”

“The locations sent to us were apt for the treatment of the film and we also had the option of filming in a real jail, which was perfect,” concludes Shahzad Bhagwagar of Curious: “The exteriors at Komarov were an added bonus.”