Central Railway earns record Rs 2.4 cr in 2021-22 from film shootings, CSMT most popular spot

Various filmmakers and production houses shot around 10 films, including six feature films, two web series, one short film and an advertisement, at different Central Railway locations during the period.

According to the Central Railway authorities, it earned the highest revenue of Rs 1.27 crore from the feature film ‘2 Brides’ shot at Yeola, Kanhegaon stations with a special shooting train for 18 days. Another feature film shot at Adarki railway station with a special train for nine days fetched Rs 65.95 lakh. Despite Covid restrictions during the first six months of the financial year, the Central Railway with its seamless process attracted production houses to utilise it for film shootings and generated the record revenue.

Previously, the highest revenue earned by the Central Railway from film shootings was Rs 1.73 crore in 2013-14. During 2020-21, notwithstanding the stringent Covid curbs, it raked in Rs 41.16 lakh from such projects.

Anil Kumar Lahoti, General Manager of Central Railway said, “Thanks to our popular locations like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station, the old Wadi Bunder yard, Wathar (near Satara) and the Apta station (in Panvel area) and also the initiatives to grant permission to production houses without hassles enabled the Central Railway to earn record revenue from film shoots.”

Movies shot at the most popular location CSMT include ‘Modern Love – Cutting Chai’ starring Arshad Warsi and Chitrangada Singh. The other popular locations include the old Wadi Bunder yard, Adarki railway station near Satara, Yeola, Kanhegaon stations between Manmad and Ahmednagar, Dadar, Mulund RPF ground and Matheran, a popular hill station among Mumbaikars.

Chief Public Relations Officer Shivaji Sutar listed some of the movies that had been shot at Central Railway locations. “Many box office hit films like Slumdog Millionaire, Kaminey, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Ra-one, Raavan, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Dilwale Dulaniya Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dabangg, Darbaar, Rang de Basanti, Baaghi and Khaki have been shot here over the years,” he said.

Other popular stations include Apta, Panvel, Lonavala, Khandala, Wathar and Satara, and railway yards like Turbhe and Wadi bunder. “The permission for film shooting is granted by the public relations department of the Central Railway. To expedite the process, a single-window system was recently introduced. This will enable film companies to obtain permission after submitting necessary documents, along with the script and an application mentioning the requirements,” Sutar added.