“Chandigarh de nazaareyaan ne patteya” | There is just something in the air of Chandigarh that makes it irresistible. Not just the tricity people, even the production houses at Bombay could not resist the charms of City Beautiful. Since time, famous Bollywood and even Hollywood movies have been filmed here! Go on to read about these:
1. Besharam
Abhinav Kashyap’s “Besharam” revolves around a car thief, who falls in love with a woman whose car he has stolen. The movie starts off with Babli (Ranbir Kapoor), a small-time car thief brought up in an orphanage and manages to charm everybody who knows him. In 2013, Ranbir Kapooor shot a couple of action sequences in Chandigarh Industrial Area Phase 2 for this movie with the subtitle, “Na samman ka moh, na apman ka bhay”. The film also starred Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor and Pallavi Sharda (an Indian-Australian actor who was seen in My Name is Khan).
2.DevD
One of the best films of Anurag Kashyap, Dev D gave him the deserved recognition in the industry. Released in 2009, DevD is a modern-day take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s classic Bengali novel Devdas. The location portrayed as Chandigarh Airport (where Dev arrives from London) in the movie is actually Chandigarh Railway Station. While the movie in itself is a masterpiece, no one can forget the song Emotional Attyachar. And what makes this song more interesting is that Harish Band of Phase I in Mohali was used for it.
3.Soorma
Soorma is a beautiful biopic on former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh and is directed by Shaad Ali, who has also directed films “Saathiya” and “Bunty Aur Babli”.
The film stars Diljit Dosanjh, Taapsee Panu and Angad Bedi. The schedule of the filming process took place in a hockey stadium in Chandigarh in December 2017.
4.Good Newzz
Karan Johar’s feature film Good News directed by Raj Mehta began shooting in the city in 2018. A song featuring Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani was shot in Ozi Gym of the city.
5. Zero Dark Thirty
For shooting Zero Dark Thirty, Manimajra was turned into Abbotabad and local residents were handpicked to play odd roles in the movie. Besides Manimajra some parts of the movie have been shot in Sector-15, and also at the Punjab Engineering College (PEC) which was turned into the CIA HQ. Kathryn Bigelow, who became the first woman to win the best director Oscar, chose to shoot the scenes in North India specifically in Manimajra and some places in Punjab because of the similarity in the topography of the two cities— Abbottabad and Manimajra. The overcrowded markets with street food sellers present at every nook and corner of the narrow lanes, traditional houses and local crafts made it an appropriate place for imitation of small town in Pakistan.
6. Srinivasa Kalyanam
Srinivasa Kalyanam is a 2018 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film starring Nithin, Raashi Khanna, and Nandita Swetha in the lead roles. Nithin was photographed filming a scene at the renowned Sukhna Lake. Other locations that can be seen are Pedestrian’s Paradise; aka the Sector 17 and the famous Capitol Complex. Also, a dance choreography was shot at Pinjore Gardens by 50 of the best Bhangra dancers from Chandigarh.
7. Junooniyat
Junooniyat, a 2016 Indian Bollywood romantic drama film directed by Vivek Agnihotri, features Pulkit Samrat and Yami Gautam in the lead roles. It was filmed in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Patiala and Shimla too.
Even as shooting resumed after the Covid lockdown, various movies are being filmed here. Read more:
