Mumbai and surrounding railway premises are popular for shooting movies

- The cost of shooting a film in the railway premises for a day is two lakh rupees

- Western Railway's Churchgate Administrative Office comes in handy for showing government offices in Bollywood films.

1995 hit film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, 1998's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and 2021's Shubh Mangal Jyada Savdhan and Hasin Dilruba What is one thing in common? All these films were shot at Apta, a small railway station two hours away from Mumbai city. The trend of shooting in railway stations and carriages in Bollywood films has been going on since the birth of cinema. Interestingly, the popularity of shooting on railway premises in Hindi films has not yet waned. In the above four films, the scenes of the film were shot in the greenery of Apta railway station. The memorable scene between Shahrukh and Kajol in which Shahrukh holds Kajol's hand and helps her to board a moving train was shot in Apta itself.

Not only Apta but Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Virar Car Shed and the Administrative Office of Western Railway at Churchgate are also popular locations for film directors to shoot. Now, if the production house wants to shoot in the railway premises, there are also agencies that obtain necessary permissions for it. Which gets all necessary approvals for the shooting of the film on time. Many filmmakers prefer to shoot in the administrative office at Churchgate even if they want to show a government office. Films The Lunchbox, Airlift, Phantom and Gabbar Is Back have been shot at the administrative office in Churchgate. There is no better place to display government files, stacks of papers and rows of tables. Films or documentaries are shot in these offices when the offices are closed on Sundays and public holidays.

The third important place is the railway car sheds and yards. Virat is known for shooting the carshed and yard fight scenes of Central Railway in South Mumbai. The fight scenes of Force, Judwaa Two and Commando Three were shot in these carsheds. These carsheds retain the British era structures and give the feel of an old godown when shooting in them. Sooraj Par Mangal Bhari and Panga were shot in Jogeshwari's yard. Shah Rukh Khan's film Ra One was shot in the railway car shed of Goregaon. Gully Boy, Ike Villain was also shot in Goregaon Carshed. Similarly, Wounded Once Again and Heropanti were also shot in a relatively new carshed in Virar. The railway station, similar to the Virat Mahalaya of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, was used effectively in films like A Wednesday, Slum Dog Millionaire and Satya. The popular song Jai Ho from the movie Slumdog Millionaire was also shot at this location. Similarly, Bombay Central Station of Western Railway is also considered by filmmakers for filming due to its huge premises. Bodyguard, Fata Poster Nikla Hero, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Akshay Kumar's Holiday have been shot at Bombay Central.

Railway locales have special importance in some films. As in Zoya Akhtar's film Gully Boy, shots of Mahim stations were taken extensively. 15 lakh rupees were paid to the Western Railway for the railway shooting of the Gullyboy film. Similarly, for Rajinikanth's film Darbar, the Central Railway was also paid a huge sum of twenty two lakh rupees.

Even in 2021-22 during the corona epidemic, Western Railway earned 67 lakh rupees through film shooting. During the year 2022-23, the income figure of this film shooting increased to 1.64 crore rupees. Thus, despite the fact that the railways are getting many types of earnings in various ways, when it comes to giving concessions to the tourists, the railway system raises its hands saying that we are running the railways at a loss. By the way, for your information Railways charges two lakh rupees for a day's shoot for film shooting. Now sing gadi bula rahi hai cit baja rahi hai gaav then remember that the filmmaker has paid money for the picturization of this song and you still have the right to hum this song.