Bollywood shoots at sights in Delhi

Delhi has become the favourite shooting location for Bollywood biggies. DT explores what’s bringing film units to Delhi.It’s official: Delhi’s the new flavour in Bollywood . With the city’s monuments , broad roads and green stretches winking at the audience from the frames of Bollywood’s big releases, Delhi has arrived as a location . Rang De Basanti and Fanaa heralded this trend and small-budget ventures like Khosla ka Ghosla and Delhi Heights took it forward .And now, there’s no stopping the big-budget units. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is already planning Dilli 6, a film that will focus on Chandni Chowk, Farah Khan may shoot some sequences for her Om Shanti Om in the city and there are others in the pipeline. CHEENI KUM Shot at: Qutub Minar and Nizamuddin Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu & Paresh Rawal Why Delhi? “It is one of the most beautiful and green cities in India. The monuments give it an old world charm, which no other place has,” explains director of the film Balakrishnan. “There is never a problem of light here and Delhi has so many seasons. So, it is the perfect place to shoot. For Cheeni Kum, I easily got the permits for most of the places where I wanted to shoot. The administration here is very clear about where we can shoot and where we can’t . The officials give you a clear perspective. Thank God for that!” adds Balakrishnan. But then “Delhiites are absolutely star-struck and managing the crowds can be a task. That’s why we had to shoot most of the scenes early in the morning when nobody is around. We had planned an evening shoot at Qutub but after we saw the crowds, we cancelled it. If Amitabh Bachchan had shot there, it would have led to chaos,” he smiles. SUNDAY Shot at: Chandni Chowk, India Gate, Connaught Place and Pragati Maidan. Cast: Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Ayesha Takia and Irrfan Khan Why Delhi? “For its great outdoors . Delhi is a beautiful city with broad roads and beautiful monuments. It has so much history. We cannot get these kind of locations in Mumbai ,” says Sunday’s director, Rohit Shetty. But then There’s Delhi’s heat and the problem of arranging junior artists.
MERA BHARAT MAHAN Shot at: Khan Market, Aurangzeb Road, Old Fort Cast: Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Riya Sen and Preity Zinta Why Delhi? “Delhi has its own charm. And because these days the script demands realistic cinema, it is always better to got to the location than make a set,” says producer Vikar Kapoor But then âUnlike Balakrishnan , Vikar says, “It is very difficult to get permits for shooting in Delhi. The government should realise that at the end of the day, we are also promoting the location we are shooting at. This is the reason why we run to foreign locations , they don’t have such permit hassles.” CHAK DE INDIA Shot at: National Stadium Cast: Shah Rukh Khan Why Delhi? “The infrastructure for shooting at the National Stadium was perfect,” says a unit source. But then “The star-struck fans created a frenzy at the venue. Delhi Police had to station extra policemen at the venue but even they found it difficult to control the people once SRK started shooting,” adds the source.