Delhi – New shooting destination of Bollywood

Everyone knows that Bollywood or the Hindi film industry is based in the city of Mumbai or Bombay, as it was earlier called. Most film makers have now realized that Mumbai has been over shot and there are hardly any new places left to shoot in, in Mumbai. Karan Johar is the latest to admit that Mumbai has a sort of gagging feeling to it now and Bollywood is finding that Delhi is the new Mumbai.

Delhi is a city that has many sides to it.While many love to do street shopping in delhi , others like the delicious cuisines of the city.Film makers have their own reasons.

Old Delhi is a treat to shoot in, with the walled city coming across as a space that has many nooks and corners to explore. Films like Delhi-6 have been shot with great beauty in areas of Chandni Chowk, where most film makers had not shot extensively till then.

Like Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra puts it, he has moved out of Delhi, but Delhi has not moved out of him. He continues to base much of his work in Delhi, perhaps since Delhi gives him a lot of new places and scenarios to work and play around with. His films that have been shot extensively in the nation’s capital are Rang De Basanti and Delhi-6.

Another factor that is contributing to the rise of Delhi as the hottest new destination for Bollywood is the fact that today, there are many new film makers in Bollywood, who come from different parts of the country and are not just confined to Mumbai. These upcoming film makers are well versed with Delhi’s modern face and have seen the lifestyle of the Delhi folk. Hence, if Jane Austen’s Emma needs to be adapted to an Indian setting, there is no better place to base it in. Delhi is the answer.

Another film maker, Sudhir Mishra, who made his latest “Yeh Saali Zindagi”, starring Irrfan Khan, Chitrangada Singh, Aditi Rao Hydari and Arunoday Singh, has shot the mentioned film in and around the locales of Delhi. He is also reportedly thinking of shifting base from Mumbai to Delhi. If that does happen, he will be the first director to actually leave Mumbai and set up an active base in Delhi.

Film maker Imtiaz Ali also seems to have a passion for the city of Delhi. His last film Love Aaj Kal, that starred Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan, had many shots taken on Delhi roads as well as near many monuments.

Perhaps the reason that many film makers are now preferring Delhi to Mumbai is that Delhi still retains many aspects of its charm whereas Mumbai has now become a crowded and over shot place. Where before a shot of Marine Drive or the beach was an essential shot in every movie being made, it now seems that a glimpse of Delhi roads or Old Delhi or even the AIIMS flyover seems to be a must have shot in the movies being made.

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