Capital Pictures

“Delhi has a high entertainment quotient for anyone who wants to make any kind of movie. For Love Aaj Kal,we wanted to show a city from the 1960s till today. Delhi was our only choice. The essence of the film is timelessness and Delhi has that quality that no other location could have given us,” says Dinesh Vijan,producer,Illuminati Films. You could do a pop quiz about the number of Delhi landmarks that spring up throughout the film,and it isn’t restricted to historical addresses such as the Qutab Minar and Chandni Chowk. For instance,Padukone is studying at Alliance Francaise,the lovers meet at Connaught Place and zip around the AIIMS flyover.

The new star on the block is the Metro. “It looks good on the screen. The Metro is a Delhi landmark that connects all strata of people and thus offers a wide range of possibilities in the kind of stories to tell,” says Karun Punchhi of Planman Motion Pictures,which will release Do Dooni Char later this year. The film heralds the comeback of 1970s’ stars Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh as a middle-class couple living in Lajpat Nagar. Kapoor plays a Mathematics teacher and the movie charts his journey from driving a scooter to becoming rich enough to own a car. “We felt that Delhi is a city where the social pressures of having a house and a car are far higher than in Mumbai or Kolkata,” says Punchhi. The film has been shot in locations ranging from the bustling markets of Lajpat Nagar and Palika Bazar to the crowded surroundings of Safdarjung Hospital,and highlights life on the road where a scooter must give way to zany cars.

Delhi might make a good setting for the great Indian dream,but what about filmmakers working on romance? Does love also have a Delhi address? “Absolutely,” says Rang De Basanti scriptwriter Rensil D’Silva,who is making his directorial debut with Qurbaan,starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. Though he is mum on the locations,D’Silva promises that he has steered clear of the usual Lodhi Garden and Qutub Minar shots in the romantic scenes. “Young couples in Mumbai go to Bandstand and coffee shops. How long can you shoot that? Delhi offers some unusual vistas,” he says. His fascination with Delhi largely stems from the congestion in Mumbai. “The first thing about Mumbai that comes on the screen is squalor and grittiness. One can’t always focus on the skyscrapers and not shoot the ground.”

D’silva believes that in the last decade,Mumbai has been shot in so many ways that it has reached a visual saturation point. “Delhi offers different textures and has a vibe that is new to the Indian cinema-going audience,” says D’Silva. Clearly,this is going to be a long-lasting romance.