Hollywood’s newfound, and obvious, interest in India keeps growing. With the country being a major market for the American film industry (and still, a relatively cheap shooting location) it’s understandable that more and more directors want to shoot here.

The latest news is that makers of the Robert Downey Jr superhero film — Iron Man 3 — will soon be location scouting in India. They are also looking to take things a step further, by having Indian techies in the two IT hubs — Hyderabad and Bengaluru — sort out some technical glitches for Iron Man.

A trade source reveals that a contingent of about 12 people, led by director Shane Black, is set to fly down to India by this month-end for a recce. “They will be here between January 20 and 24 for an extensive location hunt for certain scenes of the film,” says the source.

In the film, protagonist Tony Stark’s company dealing in cutting-edge technology, and with USA outsourcing work to India, the makers plan to utilise this in their storyline. “They will be visiting Hyderabad and Bengaluru to see how they can use this,” the source says, adding, “In the film, supposedly, Stark will be in India, and the techies here will help him with his technological problems.”

Though not the first, this phenomenon of Hollywood films being shot in India started in a big way with Slumdog Millionaire (2008), which was filmed largely in the slums of Mumbai. Recently, Mission Impossible 4 (2011) was shot in Mumbai and the makers of The Dark Knight Rises (2012) also shot some of its scenes at the Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur. Kathryn Bigelow’s latest, Zero Dark Thirty, was also filmed partly in Chandigarh.

When contacted, distributors Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures remained unavailable for a comment. Iron Man is a Marvel Comics character being made into a film franchise by Marvel Studios, and distributed by Disney. The third installment will release worldwide on April 24.