The bond between Karjat and Bollywood

1. 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 UniversalBusiness
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.

2. 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 tourismis promoted through “ND Studios” in Karjatand both Indian
and Western film makers haveshotfilms here, thus putting Karjaton 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 drivegetaway 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. Thereare Business Schools and colleges established here.It is quite

3. 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 glamourentertainment 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.