MADHYA PRADESH: A 141-year-old jail on one of Bhopal’s busiest hilly roads, which ceased functioning as a prison more than three decades ago, has emerged as one of the most preferred shooting locations for filmmakers across India, earning the government more than Rs 1.35 crore over the last few years.
Built in 1885, the now non-functional Bhopal District Jail served as Bhopal Central Jail until 1992, when a new Central Jail came up on the outskirts of the state capital. It was subsequently notified as Bhopal District Jail. Two years later, the state jail department’s headquarters were shifted there, and four years after that, the district administration began using parts of the complex as a strongroom for EVMs and a counting centre for elections.
The jail once housed former President Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, Prof Barkatullah Bhopali, Prime Minister of India’s “government-in-exile” during the freedom struggle, and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and current Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during the Emergency. In reel life, its barracks have hosted Bollywood actors Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Bobby Deol, Jimmy Shergill and Huma Qureshi.
Nearly half of the complex now houses the jail department’s headquarters, staff bungalows and quarters, besides serving election-related purposes. The remaining half functions as the old, non-functional district jail and is now high on the wish list of filmmakers looking for authentic prison settings. The association began with the shooting of Sanju in 2017.
The Ranbir Kapoor-starrer, directed by Rajkumar Hirani and based on Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt’s real-life story, marked the jail’s entry into the film industry. Film and web series shoots gained momentum in 2021-22, earning the government Rs 1.35 crore as the premises doubled up as prisons such as Arthur Road Jail, Ajmer High Security Jail and Shivpuri Jail.
Around 25-30 films and web series have been shot there. These include Huma Qureshi-starrer Maharani, Jimmy Shergill-starrer projects, Ajay Devgn and Tabu-starrer Auro Mein Kahan Dum Thaa, Bobby Deol-starrer Ashram, Ravi Kishan-starrer Psycho Saiyyan, Rajkumar Santoshi-directed Gandhi Godse – Ek Yudh, Jehanabad – Of Love & War, Zahan Kapoor-starrer Black Warrant and Raja Mantri Chor Sipahi. In December, the jail is set to host crews shooting Maharani-5, SANKEE and Black Warrant-2, besides a web series starring Sharman Joshi. According to officials at the MP State Tourism Board, the old jail is a favoured location.
“Ninety percent of jail sequences of big budget Hindi film and web series projects are being shot at the jail, particularly due to the original and perfect jail settings,” a senior jail department official said.
The portion available for shooting has 15 empty barracks spread across four sectors. Bhopal’s other preferred shooting locations include Minto Hall (currently named Kushabhau Thakre International Convention Centre), Gauhar Mahal, Moti Mahal, Shaukat Mahal and Benazir Palace. Two old residential properties have also acquired a new identity through films and web series.
A more than century-old house in a narrow lane of old Bhopal’s Ibrahimpura locality is now better known as Gullak House or Gullak Waalaa Ghar than by its original name, Afaq Mansion. Owned by retired Madhya Pradesh government engineer Ehtesham Hussain, the house served as the Mishra family’s residence in four of the five seasons of the popular web series Gullak.
“People in this locality know our house more as Gullak House and less as Afaq Mansion. Not just Gullak web series only, but some other projects, including Crime Patrol, too, have been shot in this very house,” said the 75-year-old retired government engineer.
Around 1.3 km away, in Jahangirabad, is the 62-year-old Michael House (Emilly Villa), owned by a prominent Christian family in old Bhopal.
Built in 1958 by gynaecologist Dr Emilly Barkley and her husband, a Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board official, on land gifted by the erstwhile royal family of Bhopal, the majestic Emilly Villa was popularly named Michael House in 2020 by filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri while shooting the Anupam Kher and Satish Kaushik-starrer The Last Show.
Since 2020, the property has hosted 35 films, television serials, web series and advertisements, including Huma Qureshi-starrer Maharani’s multiple seasons, where it served as the residence of Rani Bharti and Bheema Bharti and their family, and Jitendra Kumar-starrer 2022 sports comedy-drama Jadugar.
A Bhopal-based young line producer Sachin Sharma, who has been operating his line production company MP Films in the city since 2022, said MP’s affordable, historic, realistic and natural locations were attracting productions.