What made the song Dil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukar so memorable,apart from the dual charm of Dev Anand and Nutan,SD Burmans melody and Mohammad Rafis voice,was the historic location. The spiralling stairs of Qutub Minar became an integral part of Indian cinema,as they witnessed Anand serenading Nutan in the 1963 movie Tere Ghar Ke Saamne. Like several other Hindi films of the 60s,this Navketan Films production was also shot in Delhi. Still,Delhi never quite became a sought-after location for film shoots till a few years ago,barring a few exceptions like Yash Chopra,who exploited the vast landscape of the Capital in films such as Chandni and Kabhie Kabhi. Yet,filmmakers mostly avoided shooting in Delhi even though they were fascinated with Switzerland and would later allow a global travel desk to seduce them everywhere,from Turkey to Miami. The interest in Delhi as a location began changing with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehras Rang De Basanti. And how. It literally became the shooting capital for many films. In the last couple of years,the city played a variety of roles in evolving Hindi cinema. Consider some: a protagonist in Delhi 6,a cackling neighbourhood in Dibakar Banerjees Khosla Ka Ghosla,the city of material lust in Aisha,cause and context in Raj Kumar Guptas No One Killed Jessica,Punjab Inc. in Maneesh Sharmas Band Baajaa Baaraat (BBB),packed with cynicism plot in Aamir Khan productions Delhi Belly and the bedrock of angst in Imtiaz Alis recent,Rockstar. Gone are the days when one showed Delhi in the studio. With the evolution of films,filmmakers too want to show real locations, says Gupta,director of the real-life inspired thriller No One Killed Jessica. Gupta attributes the rise in films shot in Delhi to the changes that have taken place in the Capital over the last decade. The new infrastructure has attracted filmmakers to shoot in Delhi, he says. And if the talks about having a single authority for film shoot permissions are true,Gupta feels the number of films shot in Delhi will only rise. Delhi has the potential to become filmmakers paradise because of its cultural charm. Farooque Shaikh recalls the time when he shot for Sai Paranjapes Chashme Baddoor in Delhi in 1980. Delhi is culturally rich and the visual history makes it a beautiful city, he says. Space is something exclusive to Delhi, says director Sanjay Khanduri,who hails from Delhi. He plans to shoot his next,Kismat,Love,Paisa,Dilli (KLPD),in the Capital because of the dual character the city possesses. It has an old-world charm combined with modern-day facilities and infrastructure, says Khanduri. He plans to capture both the elements by shooting at Qutub Minar and the Delhi metro. The metro,in fact,has been another turning point in terms of the city drawing filmmakers, says Khanduri. Movies like Paa,Delhi 6 and Love Aaj Kal reiterate the fact. Like Khanduri,both Sharma and Banerjee belong to Delhi. Both shot their directorial debuts in the city. People in Delhi are very colourful and make for great on-screen characters, says Sharma,whose BBB was an instant success last year. Banerjee,on the other hand,loves the dark humour that lurks in Delhiites manner of speaking and has generously used it in both Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!.
