Star trek

“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 Akhtar’s 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.

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 Khan’s 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,Thottathil’s 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.

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