Published Feb 23, 2023 | 8:06 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 23, 2023 | 8:06 PM
Car & Country currently airs on Amazon Prime Video UK. (Twitter)
A dynamic young crew from the United Kingdom is all set to scorch the roads of lush green Kerala, thanks to a global OTT show.
The famed Car & Country TV series, that’s a rage in Europe, is coming right here and will be hosted in collaboration with Kerala Tourism, which has seized the opportunity to market the southern state on the digital platform in a big way, a statement said on Thursday, 23 February.
The shoot for the latest leg of Car & Country — its first outside the European continent — will have Porsches and other supercars racing past the greenery deep down the south of India, it said.
The cars zipping past will include Porsche GT (track version) cars, Porsche Taycan (electric), Porsche SUV Macan and Cayenne. From here, the racers will move on to the Gulf.
Two Keralites — Deepak Narendran and Ashique Thahir — will be at the wheels for this adventurous rush, along with professional racer Freddie Hunt who is the son of 1976 F1 world champion James Hunt.
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The other team members are Charlotte Fantelli, Paul Richards, Sammy Seeley, Paddy King, Adam Bertenshaw, Ken Clay, Malcolm Targett, Amy Holiday, Aimee Watts, Preetham Madhavan, and Marion Ferg.
The team, so far, has had taken exciting trips through the picturesque bylanes of England, France, and Scotland. The episodes have been beamed through Amazon Prime UK OTT platform for nearly two months and has been lapped up by viewers around the world.
Everything that showcases Kerala, like Kalarippayattu, Kathakali, houseboats, snake boat races, its local delicacies, majestic hills, backwaters, paddy fields, and tea plantations will be captured in this latest edition.
Kerala Tourism Minister Mohamed Riyas’s keen interest has resulted in the show turning its gaze on God’s Own Country to expose it in a brilliant way to the world outside, the statement said.
“We usually take in the charming European landscape, rural communities, cultures, and cuisine from the window of our supercars. Now, we are happy to turn the world’s attention toward this green-tinged state’s natural brilliance,” said Charlotte Fantelli.
Branded Studios and Searchlight Productions, London, are capturing the informative, adventurous, and entertaining show that’s emerging from the stunning journey.
Deepak Narendran from Kochi, who now lives in the UK, started the show in 2014 and Ashique teamed up with him in the later episodes. They went on a two-year hiatus during the pandemic before re-emerging last year.
“The shooting of the last episode was challenging. We had to sleep in tents in snowy mountains in extreme weather. We had to do river rafting in adverse climate conditions and go off-roading with the car,” said Ashique.
In its first edition, Car & Country was aired on Fox International and the sponsors of the show were Emirates, Star TV, National Geographic, and Star Health.
Realising the potential of the show on OTT, the duo moved it to Amazon Prime UK, the statement added.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
