Karjat and Bollywood

Karjat, the evergreen hill station of Mumbaikars attracts holiday seekers from

all over Maharashtra and India through its beautiful lakes, waterfalls and

adventure sports. However, Bollywood’s love affair with Karjat, the northern

suburb of Mumbai is not known to all. The green zone provides a beautiful

setup for many a Bollywood films and Marathi films as well. Big banner films

like “Jodhaa Akbar”, “Kick”(Delhi was recreated in Karjat), “Prem Ratan Dhan

Payo “(shot in Universal Business School), “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”, and Chennai

Express to name a few films were shot in Big ND Studio at Karjat .The very

famous “BIG ND Studio” where all the major Hindi T.V. and film shooting takes

place is located in Karjat. Also the Marathi film called “Shortcut” was shot in

the campus of Universal Business School at Karjat in June 2014.Sonam Kapoor

and Swara Bhaskar came along with producer Sooraj Barjatiya and the entire

crew for shooting a sequence of “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” at Universal Business

School in Karjat and the students became hysteric seeing the two beautiful

actresses live in their college. The selfies were obvious with these celebrities.”

The entire college was converted into a film set for one day with the vanity

van, background dancers, spot boys, cameramen, etc.” Salman Khan also

initiated the “Swachh Bharat”Campaign by sweeping the streets of Karjat and

Amir Khan is soon to follow suite. The Promos of Big Boss 8 were shot in Karjat

valley. Imran Khan, the chocolate boy of Bollywood and also the nephew of

Amir Khan tied the knot with his long time beau Avantika here in Karjat. The

filmmakers find it very cost effective to set up their film sets in Karjat and any

environment can be easily re-created in the “BIG ND Studios” over here and

there are many beautiful green locales which are not available in the heart of

Mumbai city.

Bollywood drives the country crazy, it is one of the biggest entertainment

industry in the world. It is the planet’s largest film making entity and this

mammoth industry has fan following from all over the globe. An average of

thousand films are produced in India annually compared to 600 films in

Hollywood. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. When Bollywood shifted to

Karjat, this scenic village was on the map of not just directors but also tourists.

ND Studio, started in 2005, has become a major stopover for people traveling

to Karjat.

Started by art director Nitin Desai, the 274-acre studio has caught everyone's

attention. Several Bollywood films, TV serials, commercial ads have been shot

here. The studio houses two sound-proof air-conditioned floors (where

Saawariya and Big Brother were shot) in addition to permanent sets of 1600

feet of Bombay town square (Traffic Signal and Nike ad were shot here).

Red Fort and Jaipur Fort (backdrop for Jodhaa Akbar) and the corporate office

block (Lage Raho Munna Bhai) were shot in “ND Studios”. The lavish sets of

“Jodhaa Akbar” became an attraction, the huge fort looked good and it

remained there for quite some time after the movie release.

ND Studio is a good option for film-making, as the studio offers access to lakes,

mountains and sets resembling Mumbai and to that matter many European

locations too. Hollywood production houses are also slated to shoot at ND

Studio. In October 2014, 20th Century Fox plans to shoot its television serial,

Walt Disney signed up last year to shoot at the studio for 10 weeks.

Actor Michael Douglas is expected to shoot here for his action thriller Racing

The Monsoon, and our favourite Johnny Depp will be here for Mira Nair’s

Shantaram.

A shot in the arm was tying up with Reliance, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group,

who acquired 50 per cent stake in it. Following which it was rechristened Big

ND Studio. The studio proposes to house an amusement park which will be a

tour of the Seven Wonders Of The World alongside India’s foremost forts and

palaces including the Taj Mahal. It will cost visitors only Rs. 999\-

Bollywood tourism is promoted through “ND Studios” in Karjat and both Indian

and Western film makers have shot films here, thus putting Karjat on the world

map.

ND Studio is a major attraction in Karjat. Karjat has always found a mention in

the Page 3 articles. The B-town people are very fond of Karjat for all the good

reasons. It is a 1.5 hour drive\getaway from Mumbai Central. It is in Raigad

district and at a central point of Mumbai and Pune .The Konkan region and

Western Ghats includes Karjat as well. Karjat is nearer to lonavala and

Matheran hill stations. There are some tribal people inhabiting the Karjat

region and there are the middle class people as well indulged in various

businesses. There are Business Schools and colleges established here.It is quite

a contrast when compared to the regions of main Bombay. Karjat is a ticket to

fame for all the film makers of Bollywood who want to shoot their films here

apart from Film city in Goregaon East and Kamaal Amrohi Studio in Jogeshwari

East. Thus Karjat has the deadly combination of glamour\entertainment and

adventure quotient which places it at an enviable position when compared to

other tourist destinations in the country. And it has all the modern facilities

and farm houses which attracts people from all over for real estate prospects

and holidaying.

There is an exciting trend of handling various subjects in Marathi film industry.

Shortcut is one of such different films. The film deals with cybercrime and the

current generation. The first of schedule of this movie got over recently at

Universal Business School in Karjat, the second schedule will start in July 2014.