Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 11 (IANS): As part of promoting tourist locations in Kerala which have been featured in numerous films, ace filmmaker  Mani Ratnam has extended his support to the efforts of the tourism department which has named it Kerala’s ‘Cinema Tourism Project’.

On Tuesday at a meeting with Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas, Mani Ratnam promised to endorse locations that left a deep impression in people’s mind after getting featured in box office hits.

To start with, Mani Ratnam will participate in a show planned at Bekal Fort in Kasaragod district, where exciting scenes of his film ‘Bombay’ were shot.

Through the cinema tourism initiative, Kerala aims to attract tourists to such locations.

Mani Ratnam expressed his deep appreciation of the pioneering project besides recalling Kerala’s scenic landscape which had been locations for a number of his films, especially for song sequences.

Riyas, who is the son-in-law of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said the support and presence of Mani Ratnam will be a big boost for the Cinema Tourism project.

The Bekal Fort in Kasaragod, which featured in ‘Bombay,’ starring Aravind Swami and Manisha Koirala, has been included in the project. This location also featured in his Malayalam film ‘Unaroo.’ To launch this project he will be present at the Bekal Fort along with the actors of ‘Bombay’