NEW DELHI: “Kantabai boli Bumbai mein sabse jyada paisa kachre mein hai” (Kantabai said that in Bombay, garbage is the most precious commodity).
That was Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s (Ganesh Gaitonde) famous dialogue in popular TV series Sacred Games, which be delivered standing atop a mountain of garbage with Kantabai by his side.
This, however, was not Mumbai but that ugly eyesore, Bhalswa landfill, in Delhi, which you encounter on your way to Sonipat and beyond.
In another series — Breathe: Into the Shadows — Abhishek Bachchan (Avinash Sabharwal) fights with another character in the middle of tonnes of garbage in the early morning hours.
It was Bhalswa again. Some scenes from Leila, which starred Huma Qureshi, were also shot at the same place, claim sources.
Landfills are dangerous places. These giant unstable mounds can collapse, swallowing you up. These also send out flares, every now and then, setting off fires. And by their very nature, they are a repository of diseases.
Yet, filmmakers seem to love the apocalyptic landscape, going by the number of requests being received by the civic bodies from film crews.
Taking the cue perhaps, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation has decided to act pricey and fixed a fee of Rs 2 lakh per day for shooting at the Ghazipur landfill.
The north Delhi corporation, which has Bhalswa in its jurisdiction, however, charges Rs 75,000 daily for shooting there.
The Delhi government is developing a single-window system under its new film policy to give permissions in a fast and smooth manner to attract national and international producers.
The civic agencies have, however, been given the liberty to fix the fee (between Rs 75,000 to Rs two lakh) for their properties, said a senior east corporation official.
“While we have fixed a daily rate of Rs 75,000 for shooting at any other place, the amount is more than double in case of landfills. The charges have been kept high to avoid any mishap, meet unnecessary demands and make arrangements before shooting. However, for shooting documentaries on some subjects, we might relax the price,” said the official.
Besides this, Rs 25,000 will have to be deposited as security amount and another Rs 10,000 as registration fee to shoot anywhere in east Delhi, added the civic official further.
He pointed out that the crew for the movie Pink had filmed some sequences at a dhobi ghat at Trilokpuri while some scenes of Chhapaak were shot in other areas in east Delhi.
TOI spoke to producers who said that the shooting of films in the capital is a costly affair.
“Around Rs 75,000 to Rs two lakh is to be paid as fees for shooting at one site. It is costlier than many foreign destinations, which discourages small budget producers. We raised the matter during a joint meeting with the south corporation officials. We had shot some scenes of the film Gurgaon at Ghazipur landfill but didn’t pay any charges,” said Jawed Khan, a line producer.
East corporation mayor Shyam Sunder Agarwal has given anticipatory approval to the film policy.
“Under ease-of-doing-business, a single-window policy for online approval of shooting is being developed for all agencies. After the required documents are deposited and the security fee and permission fee paid, online permission will be given for shooting within seven days,” said the mayor.
This covers all buildings and open areas, including the protected monuments of ASI, heritage buildings of the east corporation and private properties like farmhouses, malls, hospitals and theatres.
North Delhi Municipal Corporation has kept the rate at a uniform Rs 75,000 for all sites besides imposing an administrative charge of Rs 2000 and 18% GST.
The south corporation, too, has developed a portal for smooth facilitation of the entire process of granting approval which will be given by the directorate of press and information within three days of the formalities being completed.
