The partner country at last year’s FRAMES event was Italy. This year that honour went to Switzerland. The Swiss Consul General in Mumbai, Peter Specker, was in attendance at the crowded and humming FRAMES venue in Powai’s Renaissance Hotel, guiding his team from the well-appointed Switzerland booth.

One of the highlights of Switzerland’s presence was Oliver Paulus, a young filmmaker who knows India well and has been filming in the country over the past year. Paulus flew in from Zurich to attend FRAMES as a speaker on one of its panels (the subject being “The Scope of International Co-productions), and also to talk of his experience in making a co-production film that linked with India. On the occasion, he presented excerpts from the same feature film, that is now nearing completion.

Paulus’ two earlier films were co-directed by him and Stefan Hillebrand. Their film Wir werden uns wiederseh’n (So Long, My Heart!, 2006) was shown the recent 10th International Film Festival Mumbai held from March 6 - 13. Their debut film together “When the Right Man Comes Along” (2003) drew immediate attention and acclaim.

The name of Paulus’ film is Tandoori Love - an immediate giveaway that it offers a love story that links with India’s most well-known culinary dish. With this film, Paulus is launching out on his own with an original script (which he has co-written with Stefan Hillebrand). He describes his first solo feature as “a furious culture-clash love-comedy”. Its story line follows the personal male cook of an Indian film diva, who falls in love with a girl from a typical Swiss restaurant. In other words, it takes a candid and humorous look at Bollywood meeting Switzerland. The film is set in Bernese Oberland, the location for numerous Bollywood film productions. The besotted Indian cook adrift in Switzerland is played by the consummate actor Vijay Razz. Priya, the Bollywood diva he is in love with is enacted by Shweta Agarwal. And the lovely Asha Sachdev will grace this Swiss film in the role of Priya’s mother. “There will be song and dance sequences”, says Paulus, “in a different style.”

Tandoori Love, in German and English, is a co-production between Cobra Film, Zurich Pandora and Filmproduktion, Vienna. The film was shot in Switzerland, Baden-Württemberg, and in India. Its international cast comprises Lavinia Wilson, Martin Schick and Verena Zimmermann. The film is produced by S Valerie Fischer with Reinhard Brundig and Raimond Goebel as its co-producers. Its director of photography is Daniela Knapp while Nina Bachmann and Roger Martin handle the film’s art direction.

The film is planned to be ready either for the Locarno or Venice Film Festival - both festivals taking place end summer, with its main European release scheduled for autumn. Its World Sales are being handled by The Match Factory.

There is a lesson to be learnt with Paulus’ first feature for Indian films in the making. Enviably, long before its completion all its marketing aspects seem to be well in place.