More than just song and dance

The famed Indian studios that churn out hundreds of films every year come to life through Bollywood Tourism?s new day tour.

Since February, the company has been running tours of Bollywood, which include visiting live studios, watching and helping improvise Bollywood numbers, observing aspiring actors learn the ropes and sneaking a peek at the behind-the-scene activities such as make-up and set preparation that go into the lavishly grand film productions.

Bollywood Tourism director Harish Kale said: ?This is the first truly organised Bollywood tour. We managed to obtain the permission of various studios that are otherwise closed to the public.?

The tour starts near the house of Sharukh Khan, one of the biggest names of the Indian silver screen. It then rolls along, passing by the abodes of other Bollywood personalities such as Salman Khan, Rekha and Waheeda Rehman. The tour winds through the Dharavi slums where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed. This district is also home to Mumbai?s biggest
leather, pottery, fashion and han-dicraft industries.

After a packed breakfast on the coach, tour participants alight at ND Studios in Karjat, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The studio produced blockbusters such as Jodhaa Akbar, Munnabhai MBBS, Devdas and the upcoming Hollywood and Bollywood joint production, Buddha. Visitors get to explore various chalets that housed actors during shootings as well as rummage through the studio?s storage facility, which is a treasure trove of film-set paraphernalia.

Lunch follows at Four Points by Sheraton at Vashi. The next stop is the Killick Nixon studio where many Indian soap operas are filmed. Visitors can watch the actual filming of these soaps at one of the complex?s seven studios. Also in store for them here are interactive Actor Prepares workshops by Anupam Kher and a Bollywood song-and-dance programme.

Added incentives on the tour are film clips, videos, Bollywood quizzes, mehendi (henna) tattoos, photo sessions and the donning of designer sarees.

Kale said: ?We keep in touch with all our studio partners and try to incorporate at least one live shoot during each tour. We can prepare the full programme with just 36 hours? notice for two to 150 participants.?

A whole-day tour costs US$150 while the fee for a half-day session is US$125. Tour operators get 10 per cent commission per booking.

Kale said the company recently organised a two-day programme for a 70-person incentive from France. ?We prepared a script, made them act and dance, shot it on video and presented them with a CD (of their performance) by the end of the tour.?