Mumbai's Film City to have replica of a railway station

Whether it is the super-romantic song mere sapno ki rani kab aayegi tu… in Rajesh Khanna-Sharmila Tagore hit Aradhana that makes one fall in love again, or the superb nail-biting action sequence featuring Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan in blockbuster Sholay, or the memorable sequence of Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, or an item number like chal chaiyya chaiyya....in Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Dil Se, there is one thing in common: trains and stations.

And rail gaadi…rail gaadi…chhuk chhuk chhuk was probably India’s first rap song and had the legendary actor Ashok Kumar sing in Aashirwad about trains and life even though there is no train seen during the song sequence.

Or the famous jaa Simran jaa scene in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Amirsh Puri - it would not have been possible without trains and stations.

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But shooting in railway stations is not an easy task - as it needs a lot of permissions and there are complexities involved.

To make things easy, the Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, popularly known as Film City, would now have a replica of a railway station.

“This would make things easy for the filmmakers. We have decided to make a replica of a railway station inside the Film City,” said Avinash Dhakane, the Managing Director of Maharashtra Film, State & Cultural Development Corporation Ltd, which runs the Film City located at Goregaon in the suburbs of Mumbai.

“Whether it is films, TV serials or OTT content, trains and stations are part of it. But Filmcity did not have a railway station. For shoots, the filmmakers had to approach the Indian Railways. But now, you would get right in the Film City….shootings at railway stations can disrupt traffic and cause inconvenience to passengers and the railway station in Film City would make things easy,” Dhakane said during an informal interaction with members of the Mantralaya Ani Vidhimandal Vartahar Sangh on Saturday, in Film City.

A modernisation plan for Film City - which is spread on a 521-acre picturesque nature-rich environment in Goregaon, is also in offing.

Film City was commissioned in 1977.

Asked about the modernisation plan, he said: “We are working on it…the previous time there was a bid but it did not attract people…we are learning why it happened so…we would soon come out with a global tender.”

However, Dhakahe did not go into the specifics of financials and time frame.

But, he added that the 16 existing studios are being upgraded. “Film City is easily accessible and we offer an exclusive combination - no matter the scale of your production well-organized support staff, and pretty much everything to make movie-making seamless…we are upgrading facilities,” he said, adding that we have learnt a lot from our experience, we have studied international studios and we are in constant touch with filmmakers, directors, produces and technical teams on multiple issues to make it better and better,” he said.