In 1996, after the shooting of DASTAK, a Hindu language Indian feature film directed by Mahesh Bhatt, starring Sushmita Sen in her debut film supported by Mukul Dev with Sharad Kapoor, word of mouth that the Seychelles islands offered an idyllic setting for the shooting of a Bollywood big buster drained well within established production houses in India.

DASTAK, the last big commercial Bollywood production to shoot in Seychelles, inspired plots of Indian production companies on the lookout for the perfect setting which in the fierce and competitive Bollywood industry could notch the film higher than other production houses.

John Abraham’s Production house, JA Entertainment, in collaboration with Sunir Kheterpal’s Azure Entertainment driven by Seychelles spectacular sites, was in the country for a week to shoot scenes, including a three-minute song scene for “Rocky Handsome,” a Hindi action thriller film directed by Nishikant Kamat.

Featuring lead actors John Abraham and Shruti Hassan on honeymoon in Seychelles, “Rocky Handsome” is a remake of a 2010 popular Korean film, “The Man from Nowhere.”

John Abraham is co-producing the film under his home banner, John Abraham Entertainment, with Sunir Khetrapal’s Azure Entertainment.

Alain St.Ange, the Minister for Tourism and Culture, took the time to meet Sunir Khetrapal, the Founder and Chief Executive of Azure Entertainment, and John Abraham himself as they were in Seychelles.

At the Minister's Offices at ESPACE Building in Victoria, Sunir Khetrapal thanked the Seychelles Tourism Board for believing and supporting the shooting of scenes in Seychelles.

“We are a very young company always on the lookout for a new setting. Seychelles offered the ideal setting for the honeymoon scene shooting.”

Sunir Khetrapal said the production house had for some time been studying the option of shooting in Seychelles and with the release of “Rocky Handsome” in October, he is confident of its success.

Minister St.Ange thanked Sunil Khetrapal for choosing Seychelles to shoot “Rocky Handsome.”

“The idea of having a production house in Seychelles is something we have been looking at. We have played our cards well, and we are happy that it had become a reality,” he said.