Over the past few decades, there have been a number of Bollywood flicks whose song-n-dance sequences have been shot in and around the picturesque and eye-catching locales of Himachal Pradesh before the filmmakers discovered the foreign locations. But though television has grown almost in gigantic proportions in the post-satellite television era, by and large serials have been shot within the confines of the four walls of bungalows in and around Juhu or on studio sets in suburban Mumbai. A few mythologicals and historicals have been shot on outdoor locales but as far as soaps are concerned hardly a few have gone beyond the bylanes of Juhu. While a couple of soaps have had a small portion shot in Mauritius, thanks to the helping hand extended by the Mauritius government, very few serials makers have ventured into the cool and picturesque hills and valleys of Himachal Pradesh. These include actor-producer-director Pankaj Kapur and Girija Shankar, also an actor-turned-producer-director.

“First and foremost,” says Kapur, “I became a producer because I didn’t want anybody to tell me where I should shoot.” Very fond of hill stations, Kapur says since he was also the writer of Mohandas BA LLB, he created a character who was fond of holidays at hill stations. Thus he created a character called Mohandas, a detective who is vehemently against crime, believes in certain values of life but also has certain weaknesses. And Kapur chose to base his serial in Himachal Pradesh because, he says, it’s an extremely beautiful place and provides amazing visual beauty. Though the serial came on air in l998, Kapur had shot six episodes of the hour-long 52-episode detective serial in Dalhousie as far back as in l995.

Of the 52 episodes, Kapur shot as many as 25 episodes of the detective show in Himachal at places like Kasauli, Dalhousie, Manali and Rohtak Pass. “It was a fabulous experience,” he gushes. “Though there were a few problems because of weather, all in all it was a great adventure. Permission to shoot from local authorities came easily and the local people were of great help. But there were no incentives from the government.” But ask him how did he make the project viable within television’s budget constraints and he says he worked out a certain work pattern for himself which made it possible for him to make the show viable. “I cut the profit margin besides we didn’t stay in hotels but in bungalows and other local places which were cheaper.”

Once Kapur was through with Mohandas BA LLB, he again chose Himachal to shoot his second serial, Drishtant, as producer-director which was a story-based show based on the saying of Jesus Christ. Of the 48 episodes of Drishtant, Kapur shot 20 in Himachal with local characters and flavour and Drishtant also, says Kapur, was a creatively satisfying experience. He had planned to shoot a couple of more projects in Himachal but because of lack of support from channels he has put the same on hold.

Around the time Kapur was shooting the first six episodes of‘Mohandas BA LLB in 1995, well-known film and television actor Girija Shankar was touring the interiors of Himachal Pradesh for his serial Ishq, a musical romantic love story with a distinct small town flavour, particularly a hill station. “And I found Himachal the most ideal location for Ishq because of its visual beauty and culture,” says Shankar who shot the entire serial on locations like Shimla, Dalhousie, Chamba, Kufri, Mashobra, Dhali and Chail. “The major USP of Ishq was the beautiful love stories of young and mature couples, the visual beauty and Jagjit Singh’s ghazals,” says Shankar adding further that while cinematically Ishq was a great experience for him, financially it was bad. While he gave it an end with 26 episodes, he plans to revive Ishq if he gets support from a channel.

But baring these three exceptions, no serial maker seems to venture into Himachal Pradesh, given television’s budgets constraints. “But if makers are given certain incentives by the state government, producers would love to shoot there and explore the virgin locations which will also help the state government attract more tourist traffic in the state,” say Kapur and Shankar.

—A.L. Chougule

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