Updated on: Sept 27, 2025 02:29 am IST
The filmmaker looks back at iconic locations that became cinematic landmarks
It’s World tourism day today and filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra revisits some of the locations featured in iconic scenes from his filmography.
He says, “Locations emerge from the script. When I write my scripts I also write the location. After that I visit the place, spend time there and rewrite as per the feeling I had at the location. Locations are definitely the third character in my films”
If we had to film a protest it had to be at the heart of the nation’
For Rang De Basanti, India Gate is where the boys salute, it’s also where the candle light protest against corruption was held. Being a Delhi boy, that’s the first place that came to mind. If we had to film a protest it had to be at the heart of the nation. India Gate has the symbolism of martyrs who died in the world war and it was important that we shoot the film there. There was another sequence in RDB where we filmed at the Golden temple right before the documentary shoot portion began. Ours was one of the first films to be shot there. Nahargarh fort where the song Masti Ki Paathshala was shot now has a RDB point.
‘Old Delhi had a huge impact on me growing up’
Old Delhi is where I spent my growing up years. Chandni chowk, has a Gauri Shakar temple, diagonally opposite there is a church, opposite which is a Gurudwara and hospital, right in front of it is a Masjid. You turn around and you have the tricolour flying on the Red Fort. That’s where we used to play cricket. The place had a huge impact on me growing up. The idea was to explore these nuances through Delhi 6.
‘Ladakh has a point named Bhaag Milkha Bhaag point’
For Bhaag Milkha Bhaag we had to recreate places that existed during the 50s. We found some old places in Haryana, that had mud tracks not synthetic ones. As someone who is into sports myself, I knew that training at a high altitude helps expand the lungs. Once you come down to sea level, training is easier. Which is why we filmed at Ladakh. Now Ladakh has a point named Bhaag Milkha Bhaag point.
For the pre-partition scenes I filmed at a village near Fateh Pur, Pakistan. The authenticity of the locations reflects in the film.
