Actors shy away from coming to Dharavi: Ranveer Singh was also scared earlier; Shooting in Asia’s largest slum is not easy

Bollywood connection of Asia’s largest slum Dharavi. More than 150 films have been shot here including Agneepath, Gully Boy, Slumdog Millionaire, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Dhobi Ghat, Haseena Parker, Raman & Raghav and Bombay Talkies. When Ranveer Singh came to know that he will have to go to Dharavi to shoot for the film Gully Boy, he got into a dilemma. He was reluctant to shoot in the slums here. A huge crowd gathers here to watch the shooting, to stop them, instead of security guards, help has to be taken from the local people here. At night, any security guard is afraid to guard here. If the locals here do not want, not even a single film will be shot. Their cooperation is very important. For the new episode of Reel to Real, the team of Dainik Bhaskar reached Dharavi in ​​Mumbai, there we talked on these points… For this we talked to two location managers Arun, Raja and Baburao Lad who has been running acting classes here for 40 years. Locations are searched at different places in Dharavi. Location manager Arun says, ‘Before the shooting starts, we get the script of the film. According to that, the shooting location is searched. It takes a lot of time. We have to go to different places in Dharavi to search for locations. After doing recce for a few days and shortlisting 3-4 places, we tell the director about those shooting locations. Then the team goes to see them. For shooting at the location that is locked, we take permission from the local police and BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation). After this, we start further work.’ Location manager is the person who provides location to film makers for shooting at a particular place. They also have a team for this. Arun runs a similar team named AK Creation. This team of 10 people provides locations in Dharavi according to the scenes of the films. Actors do not want to work in a place like Dharavi. Arun also told that convincing actors to shoot in these places is the most difficult task. He said, ‘During the film Gully Boy, Ranveer Singh did not want to shoot here. He was afraid that the people here would not behave well with him. In such a situation, we talked to him along with the production team. We assured him that there will be no problem in shooting here. Only then Ranveer agreed to shoot. By the time the shooting was over, he had become very friendly with the people of Dharavi.’ There is no arrangement of hotel for the actors to stay here, the crew members live in tents. There is no arrangement of any house or hotel for the actors to stay in Dharavi. All the actors use their vanity vans. On the other hand, tents are arranged for the crew members. Apart from this, the production team looks after the food arrangements of the actors and crew members. On the other hand, if any actor ever feels like eating special dishes, then Arun’s team provides that food. A street in Dharavi is the first choice of many filmmakers. There is a street in Dharavi named Makka Chawl. This street has been shown in many films. Arun told that films like Gully Boy and Love Sonia have been shot in this street. Also, promotional videos of reality shows like Dance India Dance have also been shot here. Some scenes of Rajinikanth’s film Kaala have also been shot here. Shooting in Dharavi increased after the film Slumdog Millionaire. Arun says that after the shooting of Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire, films started being made on a large scale in Dharavi. Initially, the arrival of actors here was a big deal for the local people. They used to go out of control on seeing film stars. However, all these things have changed in the last few years. Now it has become a normal thing for the locals to see actors. However, the same cannot be said for big actors even now. Security guards are afraid to guard at night, help has to be taken from local people to protect the set. By shooting films at night, the locals get a way to earn money. Security guards and bouncers from outside are afraid to come here, so the help of local boys is taken to protect the set at night. They stay awake all night and protect the set. Location manager Raja Selvam said, ‘Anything can happen in Dharavi at any time. It is fine during the day, but at night even the security guards from outside are afraid to guard here. That is why we take help from the strong looking local boys here. In return, they are paid on a daily basis. Apart from this, if there is any electricity related problem on the set, then the electricians from here are called. Apart from this, local people also come to clean the set. All of them are paid on a daily basis.’ The streets are so narrow that the camera cannot go in. Amitabh Bachchan also has a special connection with Dharavi. His 1990 release Agneepath was shot in Dharavi. Apart from this, his another film Bhootnath Returns was also shot in Dharavi. There were many challenges during the shooting of Bhootnath Returns. The lanes were so narrow that big cameras could not go inside them. The camera was pulled on the roofs with the help of ropes, then the cameramen climbed up using a bamboo ladder, then the shooting took place. A woman died at the shooting location, so that the place could be vacated, the people there quickly got the dead body removed. According to location manager Raja, the people of Dharavi are also very cooperative. Once the shooting of Farhan Akhtar’s film Toofan was going on here. There was a lane in which a sequence of the film was to be shot. On the day the shooting was to take place, a woman living there died on the same day. A lot of people gathered around. The production people had to shoot that part of the film on that day at any cost. However, they could not do anything. When the family of the deceased woman saw the production team upset, they quickly got the body removed and vacated the place. A person who has been teaching acting to the children of Dharavi for free for 40 years is also an acting coach named Baburao Lad in Dharavi. He has been running acting classes here for the last 40 years. He told that people come from far and wide to learn acting from him. He charges acting fees from everyone else, but has been teaching acting to the children of Dharavi for free for the last 40 years. Some of his students have gone very far. Those students of his who once lived in slums are living in luxurious houses today. Baburao has taught acting to 350 students from 85 countries so far. He has 11 channels on YouTube, one of which is named Film Duniya 86M. This channel has more than 1600 videos, from which children can learn acting for free. He has also written a 550-page book on acting. Currently, Baburao works as a casting director. Earlier, he was an artist supplier, after which he became an artist agent. He told that depending on the story of the films, he supplies people from newborns to old people for side roles.

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