A HISTORIC Keighley mill has helped Bollywood go for gold.

An Indian film crew spent a day at Dalton Mills shooting scenes for a movie about the nation’s post-war Olympics hockey success.

The movie, entitled Gold, is being filmed at several West Yorkshire locations including Otley and Bradford this summer.

During the shoot at Dalton Mills, a regular location for film and TV productions, members of the public saw extras in German uniform.

Gold focuses on the only gold medal won by India during the 1948 Olympics, the first Games to be held after the country gained independence.

The Bollywood filmmakers are using West Yorkshire locations to recreate the training camp and matches in and around London by the medal-winning field hockey team.

The Keighley scenes are believed to be from a short sequence in the film set a decade earlier, during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

A spokesman for Dalton Mills said that during the Saturday filming the mill’s buildings and yard were used to depict the German quarters.

The Bollywood production company is working closely with Bradford Film Office, which supports TV and film crews with issues such as locations, casting and office space.

Film Office spokesman David Wilson said: “Gold is quite a big production, with about 2,000 extras from across Yorkshire filming between now and August.

“It’s a different approach to Bollywood. It’s trying to recreate that world of 1948.

“We’ve worked with the production company before on a number of productions and they love this area. There are lots of scripts in development that could be filmed around here.

“It’s a lot easy to make these huge films in the North, rather than London – up here they can move around a lot easier. “

Mr Wilson said Bradford district was particularly popular for Hindi horror movies, which make great use of the ‘Gothic scenery’ of Victorian gritstone buildings.

Gold is directed by Reema Kagti, whose previous Bollywood films include Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd and Taalash, and stars Bollywood star Akshay Kumar.

Mad Dog Casting, a UK-wide agency that provides supporting artists for films, TV dramas and commercials, recently launched a search for the 2,000 extras needed for Gold.

It was seeking experienced Bollywood dancers as well as walk-ons and extras of all ages to be a part of the new film.

The agency has supplied background artists for major films such as Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them, Sherlock Holmes and The Legend of Tarzan.

The search for local talent follows news that Yorkshire has been named the fastest growing region for TV and film in the country, generating an turnover of £424million across 590 creative businesses.