Society is on rent for actors to live here: Ramayan was shot here; Rivers and mountains surrounding the set; Unique ‘Film City’ away from Mumbai

There is a place, Umargaon, on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, 150 kilometers away from Mumbai. This place has become very important for the TV industry in the last few years. Many TV serials have been shot here. It would not be wrong if we say that a small film city has been formed here. Umargaon has become the first choice for producers making religious and historical TV shows. Famous director-producer Siddharth Kumar Tiwari is behind setting up this unique film city in Umargaon. He has built Swastik Bhoomi Studio spread over 27 acres here. Local people have got employment by building a studio here. There is a society at a short distance from the studio. This entire society has been taken on rent. Actors working in serials live here. It is easier to shoot here compared to Mumbai. This area is naturally very rich. Here you will see rivers, sea and mountains. The advantage of shooting here is that in historical TV shows one does not have to use chroma to show rivers, forts, sea and mountains. The special thing is that Ramanand Sagar’s ‘Ramayana’, which was telecast in 1987, was shot here in Umargaon. For this week’s Reel to Real we reached this very Umargaon. There we spoke to Siddharth Kumar Tiwari, owner of Swastik Bhoomi Studio, and Siddharth Tewatia, senior creative director. There is no shortage of space in Umargaon, this place is naturally quite rich. Why was there a need to build such a big setup in Umargaon, while work was already being done in Mumbai? Siddharth Tewatia answered this. He said, ‘Swastik Production owner Siddharth Tiwari had a vision. He wanted to create a different world for the making of historical and mythological shows. If he wanted, he could have built a small set and shot anywhere, but then he would have been restricted by the limitations. They have no shortage of space in Umargaon. They can make whatever set they want here. Apart from this, Umargaon is also very rich naturally. Trees, plants, rivers and mountains also have to be shown in mythological TV serials. All these things are visible in Umargaon. For this we do not have to apply chroma. Earlier, even to get bread, one had to send it to Mumbai, now big mega stores have opened here and the local people have got employment by building a studio in Umargaon. The people here are also being employed as crew members. Nearby vehicle owners are also getting a chance to earn money. Their vehicles are used to transport goods from here to there on the set. However, when there was a new setup here, everything was lacking. Siddharth Tewatiya told that to order even a single bread, someone had to be sent to Mumbai. Now big mega stores have opened. Due to Swastik Bhoomi Studio, this city has also become well known. House arrangements have been made for the actors to live, the production team has taken the entire society on rent. This place is about 150 kilometers away from Mumbai. Obviously the actors will have to face a lot of difficulties in coming here from Mumbai every day. Keeping this in view, a house has also been arranged for them to live here. There is a society about 10-12 minutes away from the set. 1BHK and 2 BHK flats are built in this society. The production has taken the entire society on rent. The production team makes arrangements for the society to come to the set. On whatever day the actors are off, if they want to travel, they also get a car. Apart from this, make-up rooms have been made for every actor on the set. They can relax the whole day in the makeup room. There is also a gym arrangement for the actors. There is also a gym next to the society. This is a commercial gym, where actors exercise every day. The gym owner gets money from the production team every month. 7 to 8 trains go from Umargaon to Mumbai in a day, a man even travels by train with a chip. The shooting of serials takes place in Umargaon, but all the post production work is done in Mumbai. The episodes are recorded and sent through chip to the office of Swastik Studio in Mumbai. It gets edited there, then from there it is sent to the channel for telecast. Every day 7 to 8 vehicles go to Mumbai carrying only chips. A man is also sent by train, so that there is no need to face traffic problems and the chip gets delivered to the post production team at the right time. Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana was shot here, Siddharth Tiwari got inspiration from this. Siddharth Kumar Tiwari, surveyor of Swastik Bhoomi Studio, said, ‘I came to Umargaon for the first time in 2009. Someone told me that Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan was shot here. Hearing this, I decided to come here and make my TV shows. In 2015 I created Swastik Bhoomi Studio here. For this I took help from the locals here. Gave them work here. From drivers to cooks, everyone is from here. Regarding the Ramayana telecast on Doordarshan, Prem Sagar (son of Ramanand Sagar) said, ‘If we had not gone to Umargaon, the Ramayana might not have been made. The nature there brought this serial and its characters to life. For almost two years, all the actors were based in Umargaon. The TV show Porus, made for Rs 500 crore, was shot here, the set was built in 5 acres. The most expensive show in the history of television till date, Porus was shot in Umargaon itself. For this a set was set up in 5 acres. The set was divided into five parts – Paurava nation, Takshashila nation, Dasayu kingdom, Persia and Macedonia. Approximately Rs 500 crore was spent on making this show. Minimal use of artificial things in making the set. Mostly wood has been used in making the set here. Minimal use of artificial things has been done. Stones have been brought from outside and installed on the set. Here sets of ancient Ayodhya, Lanka, Mithila, Kishkindha and Kailash mountain have been created. To give a real look to Golden Lanka, gold metals have been used on the walls of the set.

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