POLS rediscovered

The walled city has been a subject of study with international writers, architects and researchers for a long time. Now an international television channel wants to film it.Would this give a further boost to tourism? Ahmedabad's famous pols are finally getting the attention they deserve. After finding mention in the World Monument Watch list, the architectural beauty and unique lifestyle of pols is being captured on film.A leading international lifestyle and travel channel was recently in town to film the charm of the old city with its pols, chabutaras, havelis and other nuances that make the area so special. The film, sources say, was being shot for a sponsored vignette of an international airline that recently launched its operations in Ahmedabad. The crew camped here for nearly five days, going to the very heart of the old city and shooting some of the best known pols in the area. While the style of architecture and lifestyle of the walled city has been a subject of study with international writers, architects and researchers for a long time, now experts believe a television spot would give a further boost to tourism. "More than anything else, it will create awareness about pols in other countries. Besides this is the first time that an international channel has shown interest in promoting the walled city," says heritage activist Debashis Nayak. Meanwhile, the filmmakers themselves are tight-lipped about the whole exercise. "We are following a particular script and the locations have been chosen accordingly. Some of the buildings were quite amazing. But at this moment all we can say is that the whole trip has been quite exciting," says Singapore-based Freddy Kee, co-ordinator for the shoot. Kee, an ad filmmaker, who has incidentally shot for an ad with master blaster Sachin Tendulkar couple of years ago, had come down from Singapore for a recce. Thereafter, with the help of some heritage conservation officials, some select sites were chosen. These included locations at Dhobi na pol, Desai ni pol, Rajan Chaudhry's weaving workshop at Raipur, old havelis among others. Interestingly, of late, there has been a lot of activity at least as far as promotion of pols are concerned. With an Anil Kapoor-Akshaye Khanna starrer being shot in the walled city a couple of months ago and now this international shoot, looks like Ahmedabad is slowly finding its way on the heritage tourism map.