Subhash K Jha (DNA; April 3, 2014)

Many actors and filmmakers in Mumbai are contemplating a move away from Mumbai. While Sudhir Mishra and Tigmanshu Dhulia are in the process of setting up base in Delhi and UP, respectively, Mumbai-boy Purab Kohli has shifted to Goa.

He says it has become “impossible” to live in Mumbai because of the traffic and the pollution. “For a guy who was born and brought up in Mumbai, the break was not easy. But I don’t see it as a break. Rather it is like figuring out a new level of existence while preserving the old. I haven’t broken away from Mumbai. I come back here whenever work beckons,” says Purab, though even work as an actor no longer requires Purab in Mumbai.

“A large number of films are being shot outside Mumbai. My latest film Jal was shot in Kutch in one 40-day schedule. I don’t think one needs to be stationed in Mumbai to be an actor,” says Purab.

Sudhir Mishra seconds that opinion. “I don’t think Mumbai is the hub of filmmaking any longer. Most of my films are shot in Delhi. And in any case, I live in Madh Island and ferry down to Mumbai every day during office hours.”