Gateway of India, Marine Drive, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mud Island… these places have a Bollywood connection. Because, films and web series like 'OMG-2', 'Darling', 'The Lunchbox' and 'Railway Man' have been shot on these public or real locations. However, shooting on these real locations is fraught with difficulties. Many times stars have to face incidents like molestation. This is the reason why actors stay away from shooting on public real locations.
Many films have also been shot in the local trains of Mumbai. If the shooting is to be done in 4 bogies, then the rent for 12 hours is 7 lakh rupees. The shooting charge on the platform is 2 lakh rupees.
In today's 'Reel to Real', we spoke to Location Managers Surjit Singh, Avinash Kumar, Vineet Abhishek, Public Relations Chief, Western Railway, Mumbai and actress Smiley Suri to know the entire process of shooting on real locations.
He told us how the actual location shooting is done. How much does it cost to shoot here? How local people are managed during shooting. And how is shooting at night on real locations?
Determining the real location is the most challenging task Surjit Singh says- 'Many films are shot at real locations in Mumbai like Marine Drive, Gateway of India. However, shooting at these locations is not easy at all.'
After the finalization of the script, the location is demanded by the production. Then we start searching the locations according to the scenarios. It takes a lot of time. After shortlisting 3-4 places, a conversation is held with the owner there. After everything is finalized from the owner's side, we tell the director about that shooting location. His team then goes to see him. Permission is sought from the local police and the BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation) to shoot on location.
After this, the base area work starts at the location. Such as the accommodation of the cast and their crew. Food stall. Accommodation for crew members. Setup for keeping tents and lighting equipment'.
A charge has to be paid for location permission “To shoot on real location, one has to take permission from BMC and local police. Permission is received in about 7 days. A fixed amount is also payable for this permission'.
Films are also shot in Mumbai's local trains Many films are also shot in local trains of Mumbai. There are two types of shooting in railways, one on the railway platform and the other in the coach of the train. For this, a special permission has to be taken from the Railways. Separate fees are payable for both categories of permits. For example, if the shooting is to be done on a separate railway platform, the charge for 12 hours is Rs 2 lakh. Whereas, the cost of shooting within 4 bogies is 7 lakh rupees.
Shooting can be done only on Sundays in a week. No local passengers are present in the train where the shooting is to take place. If the shooting is to be done in a moving train, shooting is permitted only within a limited distance. Its charge is also different. Also, it is mandatory to follow the rules of the Railway Department.
In a public shooting, the crowd becomes uncontrollable, local people even threaten Surjeet said – While shooting on real location, the biggest task is to manage the people living nearby. Anyway, the world of movies attracts the general public a lot. Seeing movie stars makes them uncontrollable and has to manage their crowd. Many times local people face a lot of trouble so they even threaten. They think they will get money after this.'
Makers do guerilla shooting to escape the crowd When the shooting takes place on a real location, the crowd gathers. Makers sometimes even resort to guerilla shooting to escape this crowd. Guerrilla shooting means shooting while hiding from local people.
Regarding this, Avinash Kumar said, 'Recently, the shooting of a film of Ameesha Patel was going on. We had a close-up shot of Ameesha Ji and her co-actor in a mall in Noida. We reached there with the camera without informing anyone and started shooting.'
'On the last day of the shoot, when we were about to leave, people in the mall came to know that actress Ameesha Patel had arrived. The crowd went wild as they recognized him. People were eager to shake hands with him and click his photos. I cannot describe the scene of that day in words. Luckily we had bouncers outside the mall who took care of everything.'
Police are present for security during night shooting 'Many times we have to shoot at real locations even at night. In such a situation, the local police are present at the spot at night. Vanity vans are provided for stars and crew members. Especially the lighting is perfectly arranged.'
During the college shoot, boys used to comment on Estrace's clothes 'Though shooting on real locations gives films a realistic touch, shooting in these locations is full of challenges for actors. They fear shooting at these places because of security.'
Sometimes incidents of manipulation also happen while shooting on real locations. Regarding this, location manager Avinash said – it often happens that fans become uncontrollable after seeing their favorite star. Knowingly or unknowingly they hug the star, sometimes even kiss her which makes the star uncomfortable.'
'Many times people make rude comments on the actress's attire. Once we were shooting in college. There some boys were passing comments on the main actress. They were making lewd comments on her attire. We brought the actress outside the college so that the matter does not get worse.'
'We have to handle such situations with love. We cannot get angry at the other person, rather we have to explain things to him properly.'
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
