Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's India setting is arguably a character unto itself, so casual viewers may be shocked to learn objections from the Indian government prevented it from being filmed there. While the production team initially planned for shooting to take place in India, requests by local officials for changes to be made to the script proved to be too much, so Steven Spielberg and crew moved production to nearby Sri Lanka. Although the move worked out, with Temple of Doom proving a financial success, the controversies that led to it are a fascinating chapter in the franchise's history.

A prequel to franchise debut Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom follows Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), kid sidekick Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), and tagalong lounge singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), on a quest to save an Indian village's children from the Thuggee cult. George Lucas made the decision to set the film in northern India to differentiate it from its predecessor, so being unable to film there was significant. Location doubling was nothing new for the franchise, but India's importance to Temple of Doom's iconography makes the decision glaring.

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Temple Of Doom Was Banned From Filming In India

D.R. Nanayakkara in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Filming in India could only take place once Lucasfilm had to get permission from the government, and problems occurred soon after negotiations began. The film board requested changes to the script, with scenes involving the Thuggees' human sacrifices and demon worship being among the sticking points. In the 2003 documentary Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy, producer Robert Watts says the final straw came when the government demanded that the characters never use the word "maharaja", at which point it became clear that no impasse could be reached, with the movie even being banned in the country upon release.

Some observers view Temple of Doom's depiction of India as one of Indiana Jones' big mistakes, and it's easy to see why the Indian government would not want to sign off on it. As actor Roshan Seth (Chattar Lal) explains in Making the Trilogy, "Indians are very sensitive about foreigners criticizing anything in their country", and Temple of Doom offers several potentially offensive elements. The dinner scene at the Maharaja's palace, with its servings of snake surprise and chilled monkey brains, could come across as portraying Indian culture as bizarre and worthy of mockery. The fact that Shiva, an important Hindu deity, as a devilish figure at the center of a dangerous cult must have also had Indian officials worried about religious controversies.

Where Was Temple Of Doom Filmed Instead

Indiana Jones in Temple of Doom

Since India was ultimately not an option as a filming location, Sri Lanka was chosen for most of the India sequences, with Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England being used for the rest. When the movie was released, it was controversial for a number of reasons, from being the Indiana Jones movie that created the PG-13 rating, to its controversial depiction of India. The latter has only grown with time, even as the movie's reputation with critics and audiences has increased, now that cultural sensitivity is a bigger concern. Some view the movie as promoting a white savior narrative, with Indy saving the village children without any well-developed Indian characters to help him.

However, that hasn't prevented Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom from having a large fanbase who enjoy it on its own merits. The controversial portrayal of Indian culture could easily be seen as a product of its time, something that Short Round actor Ke Huy Quan recently brought up in an interview with The Guardian. Even so, some audiences are bound to find the movie offensive even with the context of being released in 1984, and in that, its banning from being filmed in India was just the beginning.

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