Wanted to shoot 'MI - Fallout' extensively in India but couldn't: director

"Mission: Impossible - Fallout", the sixth in the Hollywood blockbuster action spy series, opens with Kashmir and ends with it too, fulfilling at least part of director Christopher McQuarrie's wish-list to celebrate the "flavour of India".

The director of the Tom Cruise fronted film says he wanted to shoot the film extensively in India but things did not go as planned.

The filmmaker then had to recreate Kashmir in New Zealand.

"I had wanted to shoot in India. I went and scouted there extensively," McQuarrie told PTI.

Without giving away any spoilers, it is safe to say Cruise's massive Indian fan following will be thrilled when the movie opens on July 27.

In one shot, "Fallout" shows a map focusing on the "Indian side of Kashmir".

McQuarrie, who is the only director to helm a "Mission: Impossible" film twice after 2015's "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation", said New Zealand opened its doors to the team.

So, the crew ended up shooting a critical helicopter sequence in New Zealand, the only country that would allow it to do so, he said.

"It was a pretty crazy sequence. People were very nervous about us coming there and doing that. So while we were shooting in New Zealand, we still had this (feel)... We liked the flavour of India, so (somehow) we managed to put it in (the film)," he said.

India also features in the fourth film of the franchise, "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol", where the finale is set in the country's financial capital, Mumbai. The film also featured actor Anil Kapoor in a short role.

As part of the film promotions, Cruise had come to India in 2011 and took out time off work to see the Taj Mahal in Agra.

"Fallout" also features Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby and Michelle Monaghan.