‘Eat, Pray, Love’ of Julia Roberts hit by protests in Bali

London : Filming of Hollywood actress Julia Roberts’ new movie “Eat, Pray, Love” was thrown into turmoil after residents in Bali, Indonesia refused to allow the production crew access to the set.

Locals in the village of Bentuyung, where filming was scheduled to take place, objected when the crew arrived a month early. Protesters blocked roads and demanded payment of $32,000 for the use of the location, reports dailyexpress.co.uk.

The protest embarrassed officials who had granted movie bosses permission to film there.

“There was a misunderstanding. The crew came in (with) 20 trucks, earlier than their scheduled shooting on Nov 10, so the villagers were offended and blocked the roads. They asked for 300 million rupiah ($32,100) to use the location for filming. I was very embarrassed and told them this was unacceptable,” said District chief Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati.

Sukawati insists the problem has now been resolved and filming will go ahead as planned.

“Everything is okay now. The villagers understand. Many local and international films have been shot here with no problem at all,” he added.