Mumbai, the birthplace of Bollywood attracts millions of people to the city in search of jobs or to solely meet their favourite celebrity. Bollywood influences our society greatly, from clothing trends to celebrations. We want everything to be in Bollywood style.
I’ve spent my childhood watching Govinda movies and grooving to KJo’s movie tracks. Therefore, I decided to visit the Film City during my Mumbai trip in October 2021 to relive my childhood and watch the film sets come alive.
Here’s a video of my tour that’ll give you a glimpse of the enormous Filmcity.
The Film City doesn’t allow walk-in visitors unless you know someone personally who works here. Therefore, the best way to explore this place is to book a tour with the “Mumbai Filmcity Tours” to make the most of your time. They have multiple options to choose from, the lowest starting from 650 INR per person.
What and where is the Filmcity?
Dadasaheb Phalke Chitra Nagari a.k.a, the Filmcity, is named after the father of Indian cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke. A studio complex comprising 16 enclosed and 42 outdoor sets for shooting films and serials, located in Goregaon near Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
Ticket and Timings
Mumbai Filmcity Tours offer three types of guided tours, a short two-hour tour around the Filmcity, a Bollywood city tour that will take you in and around the Filmcity, and a live show tour, where you” get to visit a live shooting set. You can check the timings and book your tickets here.
Tip: Only limited seats are available for each slots daily. Therefore, I recommend to pre-book tickets online to avoid last minute availability issue.
My experience touring the Filmcity
I booked the two-hour group tour that took us around the Filmcity. A professional guide accompanied us and enthusiastically educated us about the sets, history and ongoing shoots. It was a very informative and entertaining tour that helped us understand the history and culture of the Filmcity. Even though we didn’t spot any celebrities, the anticipation of spotting one made it supremely exciting.
On our way, we stopped by a few outdoor sets and took a 15-minute halt at the cafeteria for refreshments(not complimentary) before heading back. Here’s what I saw at the Filmcity.
Other locations that we came across:
- Bollywood’s favourite suicide point, where the protagonist is either killed (but somehow survives) or jumps voluntarily. This location was also used to shoot some of the most romantic songs in the 90s.
- The famous forest from CID, where ACP Praduman finds most of his clues.
- Daily soap sets like the Goenka villa of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata ha and Gokuldham society from Tarak Mehta ka Ulta Chashma.
- Other TV show sets like Big Boss, KBC and Comedy Nights with Kapil.
