More B-Town filmmakers are setting and shooting their flicks in the country’s capital. BT analyses the trend

Tushar Joshi (BOMBAY TIMES; May 19, 2012)

 

The Hindi film industry is in Mumbai. Actors and filmmakers live here and have offices in the city. Even the studios are all here. So why are more and more Hindi films now being set and shot in Delhi? The country’s capital is not only the newest destination to shoot films, but script writers are setting their stories in the alleys and nukkads of the city. The Delhi-friendly wave began with Dibakar Banerjee’s Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), about a middle class man from Delhi. The film was a commercial and critical success, and its main attraction was the city. The latest in the line of shot-in-Delhi films is Vicky Donor.

 

Born in Dilli Credit for bringing Delhi in our films goes to filmmakers and writers from that city, who have made careers in B-Town. Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra (Delhi 6, Rang De Basanti) is a Delhi boy who went on to make films set in the city. Mehra says, “I am a Delhi boy and all my stories are somehow influenced by events from my youth. Rang De Basanti was set in Delhi and so was Delhi 6, which is actually a post code of a certain area in the state. My next, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, is also set in Delhi. Since I belong to that area, I can relate to the stories and tell them to my audience.” Shoojit Sircar (director, Vicky Donor) adds, “I lived in Delhi for 15 years and I’m in love with the city and its culture. More >