Central Railway (CR) earned a record of Rs 2.32 crore from film shoots on its premises in 2022, up from Rs 1.17 crore in 2021, with the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus being the preferred location for filmmakers.
The amount is the highest ever for film shoots for CR for any calendar year, the feat being achieved by offering various sites and rail coaches as locations, he added.
A total of 14 films were shot, comprising eight feature films, three web series, one documentary, one short film and an advertisement. The highest earning of Rs 1.27 crore was from the feature film 2 Brides shot at Yeola, Kanhegaon stations with a ‘shooting special’ train for 18 days. Another feature film shot at Apta railway station near Panvel with a special train for three days fetched Rs. 29.40 lakhs it said.
According to the release, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus continues to be the most preferred film shooting location as five films were shot at the UNESCO World Heritage railway station, including an advertisement of a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG).
Other popular sites were railway stations like Apta, Panvel, Lonavala, Khandala, Wathar, Satara and railway yards like Turbhe and Wadi bunder, it said, adding the new emerging locations included Yeola, Kanhegaon stations between Manmad and Ahmednagar, and Narayan Doho on the newly-commissioned Ahmednagar-Ashti stretch.