What is common to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan and Haseen Dilruba (2021)? It’s a small station named Apta, located two hours from the city, with hills and greenery all around. These four are among a host of Bollywood films that have used the picturesque location of Apta to shoot scenes from the film.

And it’s not just Apta. A host of railway stations in and around Mumbai – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) being the chief among them – has provided a colourful, evocative backdrop for Hindi cinema over the years.

“Most production houses, celebrities, support staff and equipment are in Mumbai. If it is a regular railway track or train scene, shooting around Mumbai is budget-friendly and time-saving,” says Isha Inamdar, who works for an agency that handles such permissions that production houses require.

A Western Railway (WR) official tells us that the trains used in the movies are spare, but working trains, which are usually used as a replacement for routine trains, in case of emergency or maintenance work.

The railways charge Rs. 2 lakh for a one-day shoot. Since 2016, Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) earned over Rs. 7 crore and Rs. 4 crore respectively from film shoots. During its release, Gully Boy was among the highest spenders with Western Railway, paying over Rs. 15 lakh for the shoot. For Central Railway, the Rajinikanth film Darbaar was a huge revenue generator, running up bills to the tune of Rs. 22 lakh plus. Even in the pandemic, WR earned Rs. 67 lakh from shoots in 2021-22. This number went up to Rs. 1.64 crore in the FY 2022-23.

Apart from stations, film crews want to incorporate other locations within railway premises in their shoots. For example, movies such as The Lunchbox, Airlift, Phantom and Gabbar Is Back were filmed inside the Churchgate administrative office of WR to show a typical government office with files and papers stacked on desks. “Offices are usually closed on Sundays and public holidays, so permission to shoot inside the office is only given on holidays,” says a WR official, adding that the rise in OTT content has meant that they are getting more applications for shooting shows and docus on railway premises.

Railway car sheds and yards are the chosen locations for shooting fight scenes, with scenes from movies like Force, Judwaa 2, Commando 3 and others being shot in the yards. “These locations are popular as they have the feel of old godowns and British-era structures,” adds a Central Railway official.

"We scrutinize the script to ensure there are no scenes that show smoking, anti-railway or anti-government scenes, consumption of alcohol or drugs. Depending on the requirements of the shoot, permission for a location is granted within two days," says Sumit Thakur, CPRO, Western Railway.

In an in-depth chat, filmmaker Kabir Khan shares with Bombay Times his thoughts on the protest he faced at the Karachi airport and what turned out to be the actual highlight of his Pakistan visit.

You were heckled at the Karachi airport. Hope you are doing okay.
I guess TV channels harassed me more! It was a minor incident. I was trying to talk to them but I realised it was pointless as they were a bunch of lunatics, uncivilised people who wanted to make a tamasha. The airport security was initially taken aback. They thought the demonstration was against some airline. Yes, friends and family back home were worried for my safety. But there was no physical violence.

You were slammed for making 'anti-Pak' films.
People had reservations about Phantom but there was also a lot of appreciation for Bajrangi Bhaijaan. We had a discussion about it, which is what civilised people do. A bunch of extremists do not represent Pakistan.

What kind of discussion did you have about Phantom with them?
I put my point across that Phantom was a work of fiction and the film was against anyone who incites violence and terrorist activities in the name of religion. Terrorists have no religion or nationality. They should be isolated and eliminated.

Were you detained at the airport?
No.

This was your second visit to Pakistan?
Yes. This time around, I was there for a day for a marketing conference, which was nicely conducted. They had organised a special session for me. There is a lot of warmth and goodwill. What more would a normal person want honestly? Politics will continue but only people-to-people contact can change things for better. That's what I tried to show in Bajrangi as well. They are fond of our films, songs, and our culture. The politics keeps getting in the way. I don't want this stupid incident, created by a bunch of idiots to hijack my Pak trip.

Has the incident made you apprehensive about visiting the neighbours?
I am not apprehensive about visiting Pakistan again. If I feel that, I would be succumbing to these extremists. That is what they want - to spread fear. India and Pakistan are neighbours and we have to live together. You cannot change the geo-political situation. The more interaction happens, the better it is.

What was the highlight of your Pak trip?
It was meeting the real Chand Nawab for the first time. He is such a warm person. He hugged me and said, “You changed my life.“ I had never met him. I had only seen his videos 5-6 years back. Nawazuddin Siddiqui essayed his character with aplomb in Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

It's a globally-wanted terrorist wanting Phantom to be banned today, it was a government agency which didn't like Agent Vinod yesterday, it, it could be an outraged TV host wanting to stop Indian movies altogether, or a pressure group demanding a ban on another Bollywood release tomorrow. Whichever the aggrieved party be, there is bound to be 'something' in every other Bollywood film that has a Pakistan context which will irk someone in that country. And perhaps that can't be helped. Think of the most high visibility points which a filmmaker will have for reference if he wants a real life peg in Indo-Pak relations, and you think of Partition, the Kashmir conflict, the 1965 war, the 1971 war, the 1999 Kargil conflict, and then the 26/11 terror attacks. While the past few years have seen a far higher proportion of cinema which does away with the anti-Pakistan pitch, portrays the people (if not the government) in a friendly light, and doesn't pander to hysteria or jingoism, there's an interesting footnote: Almost all the films with a nicer, sweeter storyline to them are based on fictitious stories, while almost all the ones that have an edgier, likely-to-be-banned storyline are based in one way or another on the half-a-dozen flashpoints in the not-so-friendly history that India and Pakistan share. Since Phantom is, post-ban, part of the latter group, here's a quick recap of how that script has played out in Bollywood over the years:

THE JINGOISTIC POST-WAR YEARS, AND THE FULL-TIME BAN
Anti-Pakistan sentiment ran high after the wars of 1947-48, 1965 and 1971, and the prevailing distrust between the two countries in those years was mirrored by cinema. Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973), which was based on Operation Cactus Lily in the 1971 war, opens with the Pakistan Air Force raiding an IAF airbase and Raj Kumar swearing on the body of a dead crewman, “Jawaab dene aaunga, is jawan ki kasam, Hindustan ki kasam“.

The 'we will show them' sentiment continued through films like Aakraman (1975) and later in films like Vijeta (1982) and Border (1997). The multi-starrer Border which did pretty well at the box office, zoomed in on the Battle of Longewala, from the romantic back-stories of its leading officers to their detailed, gory deaths, to the final moments leading to India's victory. The Indian Army itself questioned some of the specifics, but for the public, the emotion was enough. And given that Pakistan had banned the screening of 'all' Indian movies after the 1965 war, no filmmaker had an incentive to paint a wider canvas that could appeal to audiences on both sides of the border. Even if you had a Pakistan-friendly tone to your movie, the neighbouring country wasn't going to let you screen it there anyway.


POST KARGIL: SUNNY PAAJI'S HANDPUMP AND THE L.O.C
India's first modern war, fought in the 24-hour news cycle, “rejuvenated nationalism“ in the words of one news anchor, and spawned several films on the war itself and on the Indo-Pak relationship - or, rather, the lack of one. Pictures and tales of bravery of young, martyred war heroes fired collective passions (who can forget Captain Vikram Batra and his war cry of 'yeh dil maange more'?), and also gave Bollywood a fail-safe formula. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) came when war wounds were fresh and though it was based not on Kargil but on the painful subject of the Partition, Sunny Deol single-handedly pummeling those Pakistanis who tried to keep away his wife from him and her from their son was irresistible, and a massive hit. LOC Kargil (2003) had a multi-star cast playing the real men who led the Kargil effort, bringing the dashing and the daredevilry of the likes of Captain Batra, Captain Vijayant Thapar, Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey, and Captain Anuj Nayyar alive to tug at thousands of heartstrings. It played wholeheartedly to the post-war gallery with its detailed scenes of major battles and main characters' deaths, copious exchanges of insults between the two sides during gunbattles, and showing Pakistani troops as complete villains - remember the apparently-true tale of one enemy soldier asking for Madhuri Dixit to end the war, and Abhishek Bachchan dousing the lot of them in bullets before responding with, 'from Madhuri, with love'?

It didn't end there. There was much Pak-bashing that followed the theme of Pakistan as a terrorist factory. Gadar director Anil Sharma's Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo (2004) was a mishmash of everything wrong that Pakistan could do, from war to capturing and torturing Indian soldiers to sponsoring a terror plot to bomb Amarnath, but perhaps as a sign of the gradually changing times, the film did an abrupt U-turn in the end as India and Pakistan shake hands and agree to fight terrorism together. Deewaar: Lets Bring Our Heroes Home (2004) was about a bunch of Indian POWs forgotten in a Pak jail for 33 years and their bid to escape, as was 1971, the movie for which Manoj Bajpayee got a National Award as best actor, but apparently, no one other than the jury actually watched the film. Zameen (2003) was based on the attack on the Indian Parliament and the IC 814 hijack. Neither Deewaar nor Zameen was exactly praised for being true-to-life, but both rode the jingoistic horse high. Sunny Deol's roaring act continued with Maa Tujhe Salaam (2002), and the film ended up being banned even in Britain as it offended the Pakistani diaspora.

BEYOND THE WAR ZONE, THE BAN REVERSAL, AND THE AGENTS
In more recent years, two things happened. One, the blanket ban on the screening of Indian movies in theatres was lifted by Pervez Musharraf in 2006, and so Indian filmmakers began to find a new market to tap, one that would perhaps subtly influence how films were structured. It may be a coincidence, but no further movies around an Indo-Pak military conflict have been made since then. Two, as the battle itself shifted from the borders to the more rarified world of intelligence and covert operations, we had a shift of scene: Instead of posters of soldiers with guns at the border, we now had a surplus of movies about intelligence agents. Now, while the RAW vs ISI game was ­ as 'real' as Kargil, we don't really have live TV coverage of intelligence operations, and so the line between fact and fiction is difficult to place, giving filmmakers far greater creative licence than earlier movies on the more visible conflicts had. Given the popularity that the RAW enjoys in Pakistan, though, it is little surprise that movies like Agent Vinod and Ek Tha Tiger did not find a loving welcome and the Pakistani regime ­ predictably ­ opted to not have tales of flamboyant Indian agents getting the better of Pak intelligence played out on cinema screens. And so, given that tradition, Phantom now joins the illustrious list of movies that Pakistani authorities feel are better off not crossing the border, even though it's made by the same director who recently made Bajrangi Bhaijaan, a movie that some felt was the most Pakistan-friendly mainstream production to come out of India in decades.

Not that it means these 'banned' films have not been 'watched' in Pakistan, or that Phantom won't be. As the judge hearing the case filed by Hafiz Saeed in the Lahore High Court asked the counsel for the government, even if the movie is banned in cinemas, what can the government do to stop its CDs from being available in the market? What, indeed? Now that's one form of cross-border infiltration nobody's been able to check in all these years.

FOR DOSTI, THERE'S ALWAYS FICTION
"How could I make Bajrangi Bhaijaan if I was anti-Pakistan?“ was Kabir Khan's aggrieved response after Phantom got banned there. Perhaps he thought Bajrangi's saccharine-loaded tale was enough to buy him the trust of handling everything Pak-related with 'sensitivity' (this is the same guy who made Bajrangi, so this too must be coming from the same place. Never mind that it brands Pakistan as the brains behind a real-life terror plot and sends Indian agents on an assassin's quest). Umm, no. Sensitivity got nothing to do with it.

Bajrangi's goodwill isn't enough to make Phantom accepted in Pakistan, simply because its basic plot is the single most acrimonious point (okay, maybe not single) of difference between the two nations. So, it can be completely based on facts and not cooked-up lies about Pakistan, and may not demonise its entire population, but if the subject is enough to derail high-level talks between the neighbours several times, what chance does a mere film stand? Khan places too much faith in the power of reason.

If most Bollywood films based on the flashpoints of the Indo-Pak relationship aren't too loved by 'sarhad paar' headquarters no matter how nuanced, it's because those flashpoints are all of conflict. So what's a film got to do when it wants to be all about 'mulk, mohabbat and and dosti', aka Bajrangi? It needs to not draw inspiration from fact and reality (well, lots of Munnis emerged after BB so we don't know about that now). But an Indian smuggling a 'human' into Pakistan with no documents and at the mercy of strangers, and emerging not just in one piece but also much-loved - just how many planets would have to align to make even a fraction of this true? Fiction, when it comes to us and Pakistan, is what makes us realise how much we can love each other, because the newspapers can't. And makes us cry buckets at the cinema.

Whether it was Refugee's stateless baby born at (on?) the border that gave the message of peace, or Welcome 2 Karachi's bumbling idiots inadvertently exposing the futility of terrorism and war, Bollywood has had to be pretty creative to push its 'two-nations-ek-jaan' theory , because reality is no help at all. We exchange plenty of fire, insults and allegations but get equally misty-eyed when a Hindu Qaidi No 786 in Veer-Zaara asks, “Woh kehta hai yeh tera des nahi, phir kyun mere des jaisa lagta hai. Woh kehta hai main uss jaisa nahin, phir kyun mujh jaisa woh lagta hai?“ or when a Pakistani lawyer fights tooth and nail to reunite him with his long-lost Pakistani lover who has made India her home in his memory. We might watch most of Ek Tha Tiger's 'sleeping with the enemy' saga with bemusement, but still root for the agents-turned-lovers as their secret services try to gun them down. Tere Bin Laden satirises the mess that became America's war on terror in Pakistan and then gifts a happy ending to the protagonist who faked Osama's interview and precipitated an international crisis.

Fake or real, slowly, taali and seeti moments in cinema about Pakistan-bashing have been replaced by equivalent taali and seeti moments of loving thy neighbour. For the paisa-vasool brand of films, uprooting hand pumps and shouting death to Pakistan stopped being a formula for cheers years ago, only, whenever a film has to shout 'we love you Pakistan', it needs to create a story from scratch. But in this genre at least, masala Bollywood has shown it is capable of nuance ­ Pakistan isn't the devil, people both sides of the border are, and aren't. And finally , who can hate such pretty faces as Katrina's and Munni's?





WILL PHANTOM BREAK THE UNSUCCESSFUL RUN OF SAIF AT THE BOX OFFICE?

Bajrangi Bhaijaan director Kabir Khan is back with another hard-hitting film – Phantom – that’s all set to release tomorrow. It stars Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif and is a fictional tale of an Indian secret agent avenging the 26/11 terror attacks. The trailer of the film is powerful. The movie itself looks like an action thriller, but within the realistic format, maybe on the lines of the much loved Baby. There’s no scope for songs but three tracks are out, two of which will be relegated to the background it seems. The third song – Afghan Jalebi – looks like a promotional track and it has nicely caught on although initially many dubbed it as a silly track. Saif looks awesome in the film and has pinned all his hopes on this flick. After all, his last 3 films – Bullett Raja, Humshakals and Happy Ending – have fared very badly at the box office. Phantom looks great and might bring him back in the top league to an extent.

Katrina Kaif and Kabir Khan, who have given hits like New York and Ek Tha Tiger (ETT), are now gearing up for their third venture, Phantom, produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Siddharth Roy Kapur. This action thriller, starring Saif Ali Khan, is also being talked about for Hafiz Saeed, Sajid Mir, David Headley and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the four villains who have piqued the curiosity of the audience because of the headlines they have made in the last few years.

Coming back to Kabir and Kat, the duo share a comfort level because of their previous association. They are in perfect tandem with each other and it is due to their mutual trust that Katrina agreed to do daredevil stunts and even went de-glam for her role. As a result, the final product has left those who have seen this film in previews, absolutely delighted.

As a director, Kabir has earned the reputation, and rightfully so, of pushing the envelope with every consecutive film. Phantom, which is based on the aftermath of the 26/11 terror attacks that left Mumbai bleeding, is controversial and sensitive. This time around, Kabir and Katrina have put their heads together to ensure that their third labour of love is something that their audiences will savour. Kabir says, “Katrina and I have had a great association since New York and ETT. She has an impactful role in Phantom. Both of us have our fingers crossed, that we score a hat-trick.“

Katrina says, “I'm really happy and proud of Kabir's success. I think it couldn't have happened to a nicer, more deserving person. He is one of the most exciting new voices we have in cinema today. Apart from being one of the main inspirations of my career, he also remains one of my truest friends. He is a person the unit loves. New York was one of my most special films and ETT was one of my biggest hits. Even though we are yet to know the audiences' verdict on Phantom, it will always be a film I'll be extremely proud of. So far, Kabir and I have had a wonderful journey together. I thank him for his confidence, trust and support. I hope our journey continues in the future in an even more beautiful way.“

Phantom, presented by Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment Pvt Ltd and UTV Motion Pictures, releases August 28.

Kabir Khan, director of Phantom, starring Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif, says each of the film's action sequence was an adventure by itself. Kabir says, “The attempt was to keep it all very real. We shot in real locations, even if it meant travelling from Kashmir and Punjab to London, Canada, Syria and Beirut.“

Sajid Nadiadwala, who's producing the film in association with Siddharth Roy Kapur, says, “Phantom has some raw action. For me, the most amazing part is that the backdrop for the action is like that of an international film. We haven't seen an Indian film with such amazing locations.“

BEIRUT SHOOT LOOKED LIKE A REBELLIOUS MOVEMENT
Shooting in the strife-torn locations was a sensitive issue. Saif was surprised to learn that many of the people who were playing smaller roles in the film and some members of the local crew were from the Hezbolla group. A huge refugee camp was built on the Syria-Lebanon border, barely a half-hour drive from a Shia Muslim area in Lebanon. About 400 locals dressed as rebel soldiers and 25 trucks and jeeps were part of the huge set-up and naturally, attracted plenty of attention.


HIGH-OCTANE CHASE SEQUENCES IN CANADA
Preferring real locations instead of relying on CGI (computer-generated imagery), because the actual backdrop adds more depth to this story, the entire crew flew down to Canada for some major thrill sequences. The film has several high-end car chase sequences. But the highlight of the schedule was a cutting-edge sequence under the expertise of foreign action director Garry.

PAKISTAN CREATED IN PUNJAB FOR CRASHES AND CHASES
The filmmakers created Pakistan in Malerkotla, Punjab. An entire marketplace was dressed up to look authentic, complete with Urdu hoarding, posters and flags. The extensive action sequence, which was shot in the middle of the narrow busy and crowded lanes, also had a lot of intensive car chases and crashes that demand perfection and utmost precaution in their execution.


BLAST SCENES IN SNOW-CAPPED KASHMIR
Important action sequences were picturised in Pahalgam and in a ski resort in Gulmarg. The most difficult part of this schedule was planning the blast sequences in the peak of winter, when the entire valley was covered in a 10-foot blanket of snow. Adding to the difficulties was hauling the equipment to and from the location every morning and evening respectively. The enthusiasm and hard work of the locals was not only heart-warming, but also gave a major boost to the film's team.

Talking about shooting action in real locations, action director Sham Kaushal says, “In Beruit, when we shot in the area where Hezbollah fighters stay, we even used their guns. It was difficult as we had so much shoot-out and blasting happening in the sequence with principle actors involved in it. I have a great understanding with Kabir, with whom I've collaborated on all his films except Ek Tha Tiger.“

Phantom, presented by Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment Pvt Ltd and UTV Motion Pictures, releases August 28.

This is the question uppermost in every one's mind. Not only is Bollywood shocked, others too are wondering how such a disservice could be done to a film. After all, Phantom is based on author-film writer Hussain Zaidi's Mumbai Avengers, a book that spoke about the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. Another key point in this issue is the fact that the ban has been sought by terrorist Hafiz Saeed in a court of law in Pakistan. Frankly, everyone who follows films is aware that only the Censor Board of a country can ban a film that it may deem unfit for public viewing. A court of law doesn't really enter the picture here, that too before its release.

Kabir Khan, director of Phantom that has Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead, is as baffled about his film being banned in Pakistan as is the rest of the world.

Says the filmmaker, “The ban has been imposed on the basis of the trailer and the ban has risen from the petition filed by Hafiz Saeed in the Lahore High Court. The court has accepted the petition saying that it is a film that will be negative propaganda against him. As an individual, he probably has a right to go to court against a film which slanders him. What is unfortunate in this whole scenario, is that he has tried to represent that the film is negative propaganda against him and Pakistan. The film is in no way anti-Pakistan. As a writer-director, it is against my DNA to do something like that and my body of work speaks for what my position internationally has always been. If I was trying to make anti-Pakistan films, there would be no Ek Tha Tiger, no Kabul Express, no New York and mostly no Bajrangi Bhaijaan. What has happened is that the film is projected as anti-Pakistan. In reality, the film is only anti-terrorism and anti-the masterminds of 26/11. We simply want to reflect the sentiments of the Indian population today.“

Katrina agrees with Kabir that terrorism is a global phenomenon and is affecting countries all over the world but we are being hit hard by it constantly. She says, “The film is an expression of our angst and frustration as to why can't we do something. Since the government has decided to not attempt this kind of an adventure mission in real life, we've taken the liberty of cinematically carrying out this mission and in some sense give out a cinematic catharsis to the people of India.“

Kabir further adds, “We've taken it from the book Mumbai Avengers that is based on the facts of 26/11, but for us it is a fictional story going forward from there. The mission is totally fictional, and so are Katrina and Saif 's characters. The film provides the much needed catharsis. When we made Phantom, we were pretty sure, the Pakistani Censor Board will say 'No' to it. What has surprised us is that the film didn't even reach the Censors and got nipped in the bud by the Lahore High Court.“

Saif is disappointed that the ban happened the way it did. The most disappointing outcome of the ban is the attempt by those elements to project Phantom as an anti-Pakistan film. Says he, “Yes, there are people who can say that it has a slightly hawkish look towards 26/11, a bit on the aggressive side by saying that there should be retribution for the attacks. If we are ready to discuss the good, we should be ready to discuss the bad.“