Bollywood tourism weekends to begin from November

Starting November, there’s a treat in store for Bollywood buffs. Not only will they be able to see their favourite Bollywood star at close quarters, but also watch them shooting, courtesy a Bollywood tour organised by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).

Starting November, there’s a treat in store for Bollywood buffs. Not only will they be able to see their favourite Bollywood star at close quarters, but also watch them shooting, courtesy a Bollywood tour organised by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).

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To begin with, the tours will be an hour long and will be conducted only over the weekend – Saturdays and Sundays.

The MTDC is also in talks with film and television producers to extend the scope of tourism to chatting with a celebrity over lunch or engaging an actor to conduct the tour.

In a decision taken by chief secretary JK Banthia on Thursday, the MTDC will be partnering with the Goregaon Film City complex for a unique concept of Bollywood tourism.

“There is huge attraction for Bollywood and there is huge scope for tourism. At Goregaon Film City there are several sets where shootings are on, where people can watch and interact with Bollywood stars,” Banthia said at the meeting with MTDC director Jagdish Patil and Goregaon Film City managing director Lakshmikant Deshmukh. He said the schedule of the tours and the shootings at Film City would be put up on the MTDC website so that people could book in advance.

Explaining the nitty-gritty of the concept, Patil said the first tour was likely to take off at the first weekend of November. “The pick-up point will be our MTDC office at Prabhadevi and a bus will take people to Film City. They will be taken on a guided hour-long tour of the sets and shooting sessions,” Patil said. A fixed tour cost is still being worked out and will be decided according to the transportation that will be provided for which the MTDC is in talks with the BEST.