Set here, set there

The small screen is recreating various Indian cities in and around Mumbai. Rachana Dubey reports.

Not too many would have noticed this, but after the crew of TV serial Bade Acche Lagte Hain was deported from Dubai for shooting outdoors without permission, the producers tweaked the story in such a way that with minimal use of outdoor footage, the Gulf city was recreated within Mumbai limits.

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Over the last few years, producers have increasingly come up with shows whose stories have been set in some distant hamlets and cities of India. Balika Vadhu was set between Jetsar, Jaipur and Bilariya. Ek Hazaron Mein Meri Behna Hai is set in from Haridwar. Hitler Didi plays out in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk and Afsar Bitiya is from Bhagalpur.

However, these shows have barely been shot at the actual locations. After a few days of outdoor shooting, the work shifts to Mumbai, preferably at a studio located between Nalasopara and Dahisar.

According Ila Bedi Dutta, the producer of Hitler Didi, the initial outdoor shoots only establish the feel of the show. “But it’s not monetarily wise to have the entire show shot in a city outside Mumbai. So we recreate a few bylanes and houses that we’ve seen there at a studio here,” she says.