Shooting at private properties in Lucknow costs more than shooting at monuments!

LUCKNOW: A two-bit role in a movie or a meeting with a Bollywood star is no longer enough for owners of private residences in the city, who are now asking for a higher fee to allow filmmakers to shoot on their property.
While filmmakers are making the most of the Uttar Pradesh government's generous offerings to them by way of subsidy of up to Rs 2 crore for shooting in the state, people in Lucknow are also reaping its benefits.With small and big production houses looking to shoot in the city increasingly , the demand for virgin as well as well-known locations to film has gone up. Filmmakers are eager to capture the havelis, monuments and buildings with an old-world charm. Taking advantage of these increasing demands are the owners of properties popular among filmmakers, and have upped the amount they charge for letting out their premises for shootings.
NEED OF THE HOUR
Dr Rishad Rizvi, who has coordinated for shoots of movies in Lucknow like Tanu Weds Manu and its sequel, Ishaqzaade and Always Kabhi Kabhi among others says increasing the cost of locations is the need of the hour and is also the owner of Ahmed Manzil where films Tanu Weds Manu, Ishaqzaade and Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl, etc have been shot. “While earlier the excitement of getting a star in the midst of the family members and giving them an opportunity to be featured in a movie was enough to convince owners of coveted properties to invite filmmakers to shoot in their homes -sometimes for free, sometimes just for a nominal charge, now people have started charging quite a high amount for letting out their place for shoots. People too want to cash in on frequent shoots happening in city. For example, earlier a 10-day shoot would cost the production house around `50,000 but now they charge on a per day basis. Lucknowites now take anything between Rs 50,000-a lakh for a day's shoot at their place,“ informs Rishad.
IT'S ONLY FAIR
Saif Hasan, owner of Salempur House where films like Bullett Raja, Dabangg 2, Jaanisaar and Umrao Jaan have been shot, says that it's only fair for them to increase the charges given that the filmmakers are getting a decent amount from the state government. “Earlier we used to charge Rs 25-30 thousand for a day's shoot, now we have increased the amount to Rs 50,000 to a lakh, depending upon the portion of the palace used for filming. The government is giving a subsidy to filmmakers coming for shoots in the state and subsequently the production cost of films has increased and so has the frequency of shoots. And if you see from the from security point of view, it is necessary (to charge a bigger fee) because the crew uses almost the entire property , and chances of it being damaged are high,“ says he, adding, “Recently teams from big productions houses have visited our place for a recce including the team of Bombay Talkies, filmmakers Habib Faisal, Tigmanshu Dhulia and Vishal Bhardwaj.“
THE INCREASE IS JUSTIFIED
Other property owners too justify the in crease in shooting fee saying it's needed for the maintenance of the building. “But more so to give filmmakers and their units a sense of responsibility while filming in a person's house,“ says Shivraj Singh, owner of Khajurgaun Palace where the filming of Bullett Raja took place, “Our entire house has antiques and expensive items. Whenever a shoot takes place the entire place is disturbed, so a hike in how much we charge from production houses is justified to ensure that they are careful with our property; in the past we have had some unpleasant experiences.“ Shivraj adds that a higher fee means only “genuine people approach us for shooting at our place.“
Agrees Dr Yogendra Sameer Yadav, coowner of Jahangirabad Palace, which has had films like Bullett Raja and Dabangg 2 being shot in its premises. “I think it is necessary because people tend to take for granted what they get for free. There are hundreds pf people moving around when a film is being shot and just to ensure that they are careful with our property , we have decided to charge them a higher amount than before. We also give the production house our terms and conditions before the shoot, so that our property isn't harmed in any way. The money we charge helps in the maintenance of heritage buildings like ours,“ he says.
FILMMAKERS READY TO PAY ANY PRICE
Even filmmakers are okay paying more than before to shoot in Lucknow. As Dicky Singh, a line producer from Lucknow, says “Letting out properties for shootings has now become a lucrative business. The film wallahas also have no issues in paying whatever amount is asked of them, because shooting in UP is still comparatively cheaper for them than other states. Here, you don't have to pay to shoot on the roads, whereas in other states you have to. For example, while shooting for Youngistaan, parts of Delhi were recreated in Lucknow because it is not easy to obtain permissions to shoot in Delhi.“ Ambar Saxena, another line producer from the city says, “People who used to charge a couple of thousands for letting out their premises for a day have now increased their charges to `5-10 thousand per day.The palaces and kothis charge even more. If a place meets the requirement of the filmmaker, he doesn't mind paying extra for it. For whatever we charge now, it is still lesser than what they have to shell out for shooting in metros.“
However, a fair amount of negotiating is involved before a place is finally chosen for shooting. “Of course, for like in any other deal, negotiations do take place between property owners and producers,“ says Rishad Rizvi, adding, “Ab tak ki sabse mahengi shooting that I have helped with has been at the La Martiniere Boys' School. We shot Always Kabhi Kabhi there as we had no option, because we weren't getting the exact setting anywhere else. It was also not possible to create that set up at any other place so we had to agree to pay whatever amount the school asked us for. So although negotiations do take place, there are times when we have to bow down to people's demands. Often in such situations star power works best as we tell them ki family dinner kara denge Saif Ali Khan ke saath or some such thing.“
MONUMENTS CHEAPER!
Surprisingly, compared to shooting in private places, heritage buildings protected by the ASI are favoured by filmmakers coming to the city as they work out to be cheaper. “We just have to pay a security amount of `10,000 to the Archaeological Survey Of India and an additional `5000 as charges for a day's shoot at the monument,“ informs Dicky Singh. “Inspite of frequent movie shoots, the shooting charges at Residency, Rumi Darwaza, Musabagh Palace etc remain the same.“ Agrees Sudhanshu Savant another line producer from the city, “Filmmakers prefer shooting at these historical places because they fall cheaper,“ he says.
THE EXCEPTIONS
But there still are a few Lucknowites who are glad to have their places featured in films without charging for it.One of them happens to be Syed Masoom Raza, owner of Sultanat Manzil where movies like Ishq Ke Parindey, Desi Bomb and Lucknawi Ishq have been shot. Says Raza, “We never charge for film shoots. All the movies and TV serials shot at our place were shot free of cost.“ However, he rues, “Sadly, the practice hasn't done any good for us.Many times our property has been damaged by film units. So now we have stopped giving our place for shootings except to people known to us.“