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Locations from around the North East will soon be seen by millions of movie fans after they were chosen as the backdrops for two films.

The two will be productions of the massive Bollywood film industry.

The first, Kaun Bola?, started filming on 16 July 2008 and the crew and actors from Apni Boli Apna Des arrived later in the month.

Dance scenes

Kaun Bola?, which translates as Who Spoke? is a Hindi romantic drama and stars Arshad Warsi and Diya Mirza.

Filming a scene in Leazes Park

A series of dance and stunt scenes are being filmed in Newcastle.

Apna Boli Apna Des - Our Language, Our Country - is a Punjabi film and stars Raj Babbar, Shweta Tiwari and Sarabjit Cheema and is directed by Ravinder Peepat.

A trailer was filmed at Tynemouth and other locations include Leazes Park, The Angel of the North, Grey's Monument and Alnwick Gardens.

Gayle Woodruffe, location manager for Northern Film & Media, the regional screen agency for the north-east of England, said the decision by the film-makers to come here will hopefully have a big impact.

She said the agency had worked on and off with location managers involved with the Bollywood films for a long time answering various queries and requests.

She said: "There has been a big push with promoting the North East nationally but not specifically to Bollywood."

But she said now part of two films had been filmed here, the hope is that more Indian film-makers will choose the North East.

Colourful films

Gayle said it had been interesting to see the cultural differences in the way the Bollywood films are made.

Clapperboard for Apni Boli Apna Des

"The feedback has been quite positive. They are nice sets to visit. They are friendly and will come and chat to you. It's a spectacle and it is very open," she said.

Northern Film & Media runs a scheme called the Filming Friendly Partnership, which involves working with councils in the North East.

It promotes links between the councils and production companies to make it as attractive as possible for film-makers to come to the region.

Gayle said the two films were a good example of how this worked and said Newcastle and North Tyneside Councils along with English Heritage, which owns Tynemouth Priory, had been very supportive.

She said: "The main thing for me is that we couldn't do this without the support of the councils and organisations like English Heritage.

"I always feel quite proud when we get something like this off the ground and people are so positive about it. I have been surprised and overwhelmed by how supportive everybody has been."

Gayle said there had been talks with other Bollywood film-makers and she is hopeful that more films will be made here over the coming years.

There are also hopes that having North East locations on screen will attract visitors.

Gayle said: "Bollywood films are always very colourful and do show things in a good light. We are hoping the North East will impress people to come and view it."