When Bollywood came calling!

Few years ago Bollywood came calling to Thane and the result: My parents were mini-celebrities! The movie makers of Rocket Singh were scouting for a location and they they zeroed in on my parents flat in Brindaban Society. It couldn’t have happened to the most unlikely of folks. My parents have never been interested in movies much, they have watched just a handful of movies in theaters. Few weeks before the shooting was to start some people associated with the movie came over and politely inquired if they could shoot some scenes for the movie. At the most it would be required for a week. Ok said my parents. When they informed me my only request was to put the condition that the house would be available if I was offered author backed multiple roles in a future movie. I don’t think my parents ever broached that topic with the movie makers. To this day I blame my parents for my Bollywood career not taking off like a rocket 😉
I digress, let me get back to the movie shooting. Looks like news about movie shooting location spread like wild fire. Most likely because the Society secretary had to be approached for permission and he must have mentioned it to a few folks. On the day of first shooting it seemed the whole of Brindaban (100+ buildings) came over to witness the shooting. The whole place was agog with excitement with people desperate to catch glimpse of movie stars. The required scenes were wrapped up in 2-3 days. Parents mentioned Ranbir Singh was very respectful, Prem Chopra quite friendly and the production crew very polite. They got their autographs too. I haven’t seen yet it as I never remember about it when I am there. In the movie itself the scenes of the flat are more like a Tirupati Balaji darshan. Blink and you will miss it 🙂 The glow of celebrity continued to shine brightly on parents for a few more weeks after the shooting. When they used to go for their evening walks people used to point at them and in hushed and reverential tones mention that the movie was shot in their flat. Some just couldn’t contain their curiosity and even knocked on the door to find out why that particular flat was chosen. As if we knew 🙂 Must have been a few weeks of unexpected entertainment. When the movie was released I am sure many folks from Brindaban bought movie tickets to watch the movie. After watching the movie I ribbed my parents saying that the reason they chose the flat was to show the hero’s humble upbringing 😀

Author: Rajaram 'Raj' Gopalan

Hi All, Welcome to my home in cyberspace! You can call me Raj. Feel free to explore, discuss, comment and most importantly have a good time!

One thought on “When Bollywood came calling!”

  1. The true joy, in my opinion, is that your flat became immortal, as it is now in the annals of Bollywood forever. People may forget the actor, the movie, etc, but Bridavan will always remember that they were “the chosen”

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