MUMBAI:Die-hard Bollywood fans always yearn to dress, look, talk and act like filmstars. Now, well-known art director Nitin Chandrakant Desai has made it possible for them to live their dream.Desai, known for designing the breathtaking sets of Bollywood hits like Lagaan, Jodha Akbar, Devdas, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and many more, has developed his studio near Karjat, about an hour’s drive from Mumbai, into a Bollywood Theme Park where fans can get transported into a world of fantasy.
The park welcomes visitors in the larger than life fashion of movies. After entry through a ‘Box Office’, the guests are greeted with a poster wall that unfolds the history of 105 years of Indian cinema. Aspiring actors explain the journey of films from the black-and-white era to the present times to the guests. The visitors also get to visit the original sets where films like Jodha Akbar, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Traffic Signal, Indu Sarkar etc. were filmed.
There are expert make-up artists and costumes to help the guests slip into the get-up of their favourite movie stars or characters and get themselves filmed while acting or singing.An exhibition with real life exhibits makes the visitors participate in and educates them on various aspects of making of a film. The theme park has a ‘Time Square’ that has Mumbai’s CSMT railway station on one side, Hutatma Chowk in the middle and Delhi’s Connaught Place and Regal Theatre on the other. Guests can move from one metro and one time zone to the other in no time and that’s why it’s is named the ‘Time Square’.
A ‘Chor Bazar’ at this theme park has numerous old and new items used in films, while a ‘Khau Galli’ has several restaurants based on Bollywood themes, including that of a ‘jail’. There’s a ‘Fashion Street’ that sells apparels designed by well-known costume designers of the industry.Asia’s biggest stage is being developed at the theme park. “By June, we shall start live performances, on the line of Broadway shows, on this stage. The shows will run round-the-clock and will add to the attraction of this theme park,” Desai said.
‘Talent Tumhara Platform Hamara’ (Your Talent our Platform) is yet another theme that lets the guests explore their talents and get their portfolio made by experts in the industry.
Desai, who started his career in art direction with TV serial Tamas, set up his studio in 2005. But the drive to connect with people made him convert the studio, spread over 50 acres, into the Bollywood theme park.
“Whenever I saw people rushing for autographs of filmstars or trying to walk, speak or sing like them, I felt there should be some facility wherein people would have an opportunity to turn their dreams to reality, at least for a short while. This thought led me to develop this theme park,” Desai told The Sunday Standard.
He also runs short-duration skill development courses for 28 different aspects of the production management of films. Around 380 students from about 50 of the nearby villages have done these courses and got jobs in the industry. Some of them even assist Desai.