New Delhi, like we're showing you over ten days of the Delhi Times 16th anniversary edition, ain't so new to filmmakers. And Old Delhi is even more familiar to them.
The Chinese Akshay Kumar's dil was actually in the sankri galis of Chandni Chowk in CC2C, and the sprawling spread of rooftops and minarets that's seen in purani Dilli is a favourite with filmmakers. Many a movie recently has captured the wide roads around India Gate, which is the perfect picture postcard image for a Delhi film. Of course it's touristy, but it's also picturesque, and in this age when Dilli's more dabangg in Bollywood, it's oh-so-uniquely-Delhi. The naya-purana flavour of Old Delhi, the old-world charm of the monuments, the green spaces of Rajpath – that's what filmmakers seek to capture when they set their films here. Today, on Day 2, we're showing you that whether it's a landmark or a middle-class residential colony, for Bollywood, Dilli ke paas cinemaa hi cinemaa hai!
Delhi has always been recognised by shots of either India Gate or the Rashtrapati Bhavan, but the recent increase in the number of Bollywood shootings in Delhi has also resulted in filmmakers exploring other symbols for representing the flavour of purani Dilli – one of them being the stunning red facade of the Red Fort.
Be it movies that need to depict the ambience of old Delhi, or films that just need the audience to identify the location of the movie as being in Delhi, directors have begun using the Red Fort as one of those easily recognisable monuments.
This monument has caught the fancy of a lot of filmmakers. Why else would they go through the trouble of seeking permission and doing paperwork just to shoot a couple of scenes at the picturesque Red Fort? The Qila, it seems, has graduated from being just a passing shot in a film to an actual location to shoot crucial scenes.
The first half of the Aamir Khan's starrer " Fanaa" was shot extensively in Delhi. While Aamir plays a terrorist in the guise of a guide, the first half of the movie encapsulated the monumental panorama of Delhi. Red Fort made a cameo in the film, which also featured other historical monuments in passing.
The year 2006 saw another movie based on Delhi, and to be more precise on purani Dilli. The Abhay Deol-Soha Ali Khan starrer " Ahista Ahista" which showed the life of a man who lives in old Delhi whose occupation is acting witness for couples going for court marriages, was also shot here. And while Red Fort's cameo in "Fanaa" didn't affect the plot of the film, "Ahista Ahista" captured the essence of Old Delhi with shots featuring Daryaganj and Chandni Chowk.
And after these cameos, Red Fort got a full fledged movie for itself. Confused? Well, we're talking about the 2008 flick "Black And White". This Subhash Ghai film explored the life of a suicide bomber, who is sent on a mission to Delhi to detonate a bomb near Red Fort on Independence Day. The shots of the Red Fort and the adjacent area of Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk were therefore not simply montage shots, but integral to the story.
Last year, Bollywood saw three big budget movies based on Delhi. First came the Akshay Kumar starrer "Chandni Chowk To China", which, needless to say, was about old Delhi. Director Nikhil Advani shot the movie in the old Delhi area, and the Red Fort was also one of the locations. Actors Akshay Kumar and Mithun Chakraborty were spotted at various locations shooting for this film. Remember the scene where Mithunda is standing next to his thela with chhota Akshay sitting next to him? That scene was shot at the Red Fort.
Imtiaz Ali's " Love Aaj Kal" which showed the rich man's posh south Delhi, also featured the Red Fort, though quite briefly. Old Delhi and Red Fort have also made a cameo in the song "Chor Bazaari".
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Delhi 6" hit the BO next. And anybody who's lived in Delhi even for a brief while would identify the movie title with the pin code – 110006. Yup, that's old or rather the 'original' Delhi for you. The movie shows the America-returned Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan's character in the film) jogging along the boundary wall of the Red Fort, which perhaps captured the best of old Delhi.
Read more: Flavour of Old Delhi in Bollywood - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Flavour-of-Old-Delhi-in-Bollywood/articleshow/7077163.cms#ixzz17m1bzZn3
The Chinese Akshay Kumar's dil was actually in the sankri galis of Chandni Chowk in CC2C, and the sprawling spread of rooftops and minarets that's seen in purani Dilli is a favourite with filmmakers. Many a movie recently has captured the wide roads around India Gate, which is the perfect picture postcard image for a Delhi film. Of course it's touristy, but it's also picturesque, and in this age when Dilli's more dabangg in Bollywood, it's oh-so-uniquely-Delhi. The naya-purana flavour of Old Delhi, the old-world charm of the monuments, the green spaces of Rajpath – that's what filmmakers seek to capture when they set their films here. Today, on Day 2, we're showing you that whether it's a landmark or a middle-class residential colony, for Bollywood, Dilli ke paas cinemaa hi cinemaa hai!
Delhi has always been recognised by shots of either India Gate or the Rashtrapati Bhavan, but the recent increase in the number of Bollywood shootings in Delhi has also resulted in filmmakers exploring other symbols for representing the flavour of purani Dilli – one of them being the stunning red facade of the Red Fort.
Be it movies that need to depict the ambience of old Delhi, or films that just need the audience to identify the location of the movie as being in Delhi, directors have begun using the Red Fort as one of those easily recognisable monuments.
This monument has caught the fancy of a lot of filmmakers. Why else would they go through the trouble of seeking permission and doing paperwork just to shoot a couple of scenes at the picturesque Red Fort? The Qila, it seems, has graduated from being just a passing shot in a film to an actual location to shoot crucial scenes.
The first half of the Aamir Khan's starrer " Fanaa" was shot extensively in Delhi. While Aamir plays a terrorist in the guise of a guide, the first half of the movie encapsulated the monumental panorama of Delhi. Red Fort made a cameo in the film, which also featured other historical monuments in passing.
The year 2006 saw another movie based on Delhi, and to be more precise on purani Dilli. The Abhay Deol-Soha Ali Khan starrer " Ahista Ahista" which showed the life of a man who lives in old Delhi whose occupation is acting witness for couples going for court marriages, was also shot here. And while Red Fort's cameo in "Fanaa" didn't affect the plot of the film, "Ahista Ahista" captured the essence of Old Delhi with shots featuring Daryaganj and Chandni Chowk.
And after these cameos, Red Fort got a full fledged movie for itself. Confused? Well, we're talking about the 2008 flick "Black And White". This Subhash Ghai film explored the life of a suicide bomber, who is sent on a mission to Delhi to detonate a bomb near Red Fort on Independence Day. The shots of the Red Fort and the adjacent area of Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk were therefore not simply montage shots, but integral to the story.
Last year, Bollywood saw three big budget movies based on Delhi. First came the Akshay Kumar starrer "Chandni Chowk To China", which, needless to say, was about old Delhi. Director Nikhil Advani shot the movie in the old Delhi area, and the Red Fort was also one of the locations. Actors Akshay Kumar and Mithun Chakraborty were spotted at various locations shooting for this film. Remember the scene where Mithunda is standing next to his thela with chhota Akshay sitting next to him? That scene was shot at the Red Fort.
Imtiaz Ali's " Love Aaj Kal" which showed the rich man's posh south Delhi, also featured the Red Fort, though quite briefly. Old Delhi and Red Fort have also made a cameo in the song "Chor Bazaari".
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Delhi 6" hit the BO next. And anybody who's lived in Delhi even for a brief while would identify the movie title with the pin code – 110006. Yup, that's old or rather the 'original' Delhi for you. The movie shows the America-returned Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan's character in the film) jogging along the boundary wall of the Red Fort, which perhaps captured the best of old Delhi.
Read more: Flavour of Old Delhi in Bollywood - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Flavour-of-Old-Delhi-in-Bollywood/articleshow/7077163.cms#ixzz17m1bzZn3
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