After a 100-plus person crew took over Tomahawk Beach yesterday, the production was due to leave the city today.
The production is the 50th to come out of Ki Studio, founder and executive producer Darshan Shetty said, but the details of this film remain shrouded in secrecy.
Mr Shetty refused to reveal the name of the film, when it was due to be released, or the name of the principal actor being filmed yesterday.
The actor, yesterday, thought to be the movie’s protagonist, was escorted across the beach under an umbrella to shield him from the sun.
The set featured two horses under the eye of wrangler Wayne McCormack and a mix of international and local acting, film and production crew.
Location scout Cameron Wood, of Queenstown, said the production would tour Otago and Canterbury over an eight-day period at different locations, including Lakes Dunstan, Pukaki and Tekapo.
About 40 crew came from overseas and about 60 locals were employed for a variety of roles, he said.
"It’s great [because] they come over and leave knowledge and skills behind ... the [film] industry needs it, especially after the past two years," Mr Wood remarked.
He said everyone involved attended three safety briefings regarding the seals and sea lions and they decided against using other Dunedin beaches after consultation with Doc.
Mr Shetty said the Indian film industry was extremely popular and had a lot of money behind it. It produced the most films of any country in the world, he said.
Enterprise Dunedin manager John Christie said a variety of locations close to the city were very attractive to domestic and international productions.
Film production had been recognised by council as an important economic driver and received "ongoing facilitation support" from the film office at Enterprise Dunedin.
