Star trek

If once tourists spent days scanning the brochures of exotic destinations to choose that perfect holiday spot,now the research is cut short. A DVD of the latest Bollywood film is taken on rent and if the locales are pretty enough...

How about a Singh is Kinng tour or a Jab We Met vacation this summer?

If once tourists spent days scanning the brochures of exotic destinations to choose that perfect holiday spot,now the research is cut short. A DVD of the latest Bollywood film is taken on rent and if the locales are pretty enough,they follow in the footsteps of the cast and crew. If Akshay Kumar in Singh is Kinng inspires them to plan a trip to the Sphinx of Giza,Delhi-6 has fans winding down the alleys of Old Delhi and Jab We Met has tourists humming the lyrics of Ye ishq hai near Naggar Castle in Kullu.

Bollywood is fascinating. People want to visit places shown on the big screen, says Delhi-based Ankit Rastogi,one of the founders of IndiaHotelReview.com. Launched in 2007,the travel website introduced a Bollywood Travel segment in January this year. It is dedicated to tours to locations where Bollywood films have been shot. For Rs 2,200 for two nights/three days,a duo of film buffs can share a hotel room,visit the site where the Lagaan crew pitched their tent and where scenes of Refugee were shot,and for Rs 4,600 they can have the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam package and visit Orchard Palace in Rajkot where a major part of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali blockbuster was filmed. The marriage of travel and Bollywood is unique. We have been receiving close to 600 queries a month. There is a lot of curiosity, says Rastogi.

Delhi-based businessman Pranyesh Roy,who took his friends on a Rang De Basanti tour to Punjab,says a Bollywood package allows one to slip into the shoes of a film star. We admire the stars on the screen. It is exciting to be at a place where they stood, says the 29-year-old. From Delhi,he boarded a train to Amritsar and after a tour of the Golden Temple,he was taken to Nahargarh Fort and Sahnewal Fort near Ludhiana.

In Mumbai,Thomas C Thottathil,head,corporate communications,Cox & Kings,is familiar with such inquiries but for packages abroad. For

Rs 53,230 per person,you can go for a seven days/six nights tour of Cairo and cruise down the Nile,with an Egyptologist for company. As you sail past Aswan,Kom Ombo,Edfu and Luxor,you can turn guide and tell the Egyptologist how Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar romanced there. An eight-day tour to Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur,priced at Rs 16,827 per person,includes a trip to the Petronas Towers and Jalan Masjid India where Farhan Akhtars Don was filmed.

The movie needs to be a hit and should have been shot at exotic locations for us to design a package around it, says Thottathil. He recalls that the demand for Bollywood-oriented tours began with Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai,which had people heading for New Zealand.

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Slumdog Millionaire has,meanwhile,made slum tourism fashionable. For Chris Way,co-founder of Reality Tours and Travels,it is not difficult to recognise the rooftops and sewer pipes at Dharavi that are part of the Slumdog Millionaire cinemascape. Way,who has been organising tours in Dharavi since 2003,says the traffic on his webpage tripled after the Danny Boyle film. We point out the specific sites during the slum tour. The film has made the destination popular, says Ray,adding that over 90 per cent of his clients are foreigners.

Following the Bollywood bandwagon does come at a price. If you still have fantasies of Jiah Khans long legs in Nishabd or the picture-postcard place,you can stay at Seven Mallay Bungalow in Munnar for Rs 7,200 a night the costliest package at IndiaHotelReview. Going overseas can cost up to Rs 1 lakh,but trips are customised to fit the budget. Hotels,the means of transport and the number of days of the tour can be changed according to the budget, says Rastogi. While his target audience comprises youngsters aged 25-35,Thottathils client list features families.

The number of those trailing the film stars is still not huge. Yogesh Selarka,COO of Raj Travels that partnered with the Singapore Tourism Board for the Krrish tour in 2006,says,The clientele of such trips is still very niche. But Rastogi is optimistic. He points out to Chomu on a map of Rajasthan. Gulal was shot here, he smiles,penning down details for another package.

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

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