Over 100 Indian films shot in Malaysia, says tourism board chairman

Malaysia is consistently making efforts to attract more Indian film productions by offering additional incentives and easing the shooting approval process, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) chairman Datuk Manoharan Periasamy said on Tuesday.

He said a lot of Indian films from different language industries use Malaysia as a shooting location and the country is committed to improve it further.

Periasamy said filmmakers who incorporate Malaysian cultural or local elements into their projects are eligible for an extra five percent rebate over and above existing incentives.

"If you are using any local element or cultural element, you get an additional five percent. So that has already been implemented," he said at a press conference here.

"I think there have been more than 100 movies from Tollywood, Kollywood and Bollywood, all of which had segments shot in Malaysia," he added.

He also highlighted the recent memorandum of understanding signed during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Malaysia, aimed at boosting exchange between the two countries' film sectors.

"They are looking to exchange movies, allowing some local movies to be aired locally, and vice versa...They're looking at how both governments can work together, encouraging the Malaysian producers also to come to India to do the shootings, vice versa. And in terms of the tax rebate, that is already there," he added.

To make filming easier, he said Malaysia has set up a one-stop centre through which applications can be routed via a local production house.

"You just have to submit using the local production house in Malaysia, whereby all the various agencies sit in there and review, evaluate the proposal. So you don't have to go to the various other ministries," Periasamy added.

At the press conference, Tourism Malaysia stressed on the importance of the Indian market, noting that India remains one of its most dynamic source countries, and highlighted strong connectivity with over 240 weekly flights between the two nations and the continuation of visa-free entry for Indian nationals.

The tourism board also outlined a series of engagement events in New Delhi, including a wedding seminar, a MICE B2B session and the Malaysia Networking Dinner 2026, aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation ahead of SATTE 2026, the 33rd edition of India and Asia's largest travel expo, set to be held at Yashobhoomi International Convention and Expo Centre from February 25 to 27.

The press conference was attended by Dato' Muzafar Shah Mustafa, High Commissioner of Malaysia to India, in the presence of travel trade partners, airline representatives, tourism stakeholders and the media, as Malaysia ramps up its outreach under the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VM2026) campaign.

According to Mustafa, India remains "one of the most priority markets" for Malaysia.

"I think from that foundation, our nation has grown into other areas of our common interest. We continue to be strengthened, especially with the recent visit by Prime Minister Modi to Malaysia. It was a visit after our Prime Minister came to India," he said.

"So during the visit, many issues of common interest were discussed, and we concluded many MOUs and also exchanged letters on many new areas of cooperation. So talking about tourism, of course, I think India is one of the most priority markets for Malaysia because we have seen the growth in terms of arrivals from India to Malaysia. And it has also contributed significantly in terms of our foreign exchange with Indian tourists," he added.

According to Tourism Malaysia, the country recorded 42.2 million international visitor arrivals in 2025, with India contributing over 1.6 million visitors.