Spending over three and a half decades in the film industry, Nitin Desai planned to expand his love for Bollywood to the entire world. MTDC supported his idea and thus was born ND’s Film World, India’s first Bollywood theme park creating a novel tourism market altogether.
Nitin Desai, today is a household name when it comes to art direction and production design. Seated at his office, surrounded by several accolades and certificates he has collected over these years, we delve a little deeper into Desai’s mind and what has led up to him creating India’s first Bollywood theme park.
“Before when I started out as a production designer, we had to create sets in 2D format. Chanakya was my first project and extensive research went into making the set. Research is a very key factor when it comes to taking the audience back to an era that no longer exists, is just alive maybe through pictures,” says Desai.
Recreating periods from then on became Desai’s thing. Set on a journey to discovery India, he also unfolded the past of Indian history. Whether it was the 1942 love story or Jungle book or the TV show KBC, Desai didn’t shy away from venturing into subjects completely different from each other. To keep all these memories safe and linger on them once in a while, he has specially maintained a historical library that fulfills that wish too. But it was not always a smooth sailing.
“In my time, art direction was not even a job. My mother always questioned me about my work and couldn’t understand why I had to give so many hours to this profession. Once I just casually took my mother on a trip to visit one of my sets. She was so mesmerised and moreover proud of what I had made and could make,” exclaims Desai.
Given all this, it should come as no surprise that he is the face behind creating India’s first Bollywood theme park. To support his idea and give it further impetus, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) associated with his studios, named ND Studios and thus was born ND’S Film World. MTDC terms this idea as Mahabhraman. This term encourages an entirely novel concept of tourism. Set in the beautiful landscape of Karjat, the studios has something special for the tourism industry.
Speaking further on this project, Desai excitedly says, “Sometimes it would take me months to build a particular set as massive research, material and technology go into recreating eras that the director dreams of having in his films. But what used to pain my heart the most is when after the film was done, the set was dismantled and shattered into pieces. I couldn’t grasp this because when I went abroad, many of the studios preserve the sets and keep it as it is. This is very important as sometimes these sets become timeless and the next generation should be able to go visit them.”
After understanding and speaking to various experts, Desai decided that India was not going to be behind in this field especially given how sets bring movie scenes to life connecting the audience to the film’s story, making them feel a part of it.
Working on this chain of thoughts, Desai has set up a theme park spread over 45 acres in Karjat. Several hit films and television shows like Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Mangal Pandey, Jodha Akbar, Kick, Dabbang, and Indu Sarkaar, Raja Shiva Chattapati, Bajirao Mastani, Big Boss were shot here. Other major attractions include Sheesh Mahal, village Set-up, Mumbai’s Town Square and iconic locations such as Fashion Street, Wax Museum, Ghost House, Jail Restaurant, Chor Bazaar and Food Bazaar (Khau Galli).
“But what will attract tourists the most, especially domestic tourists is the fact that they can be one with these sets. If they choose to, we have fashion designers and hair and makeup artists that will dress them up and from Madhubala to Julie to Jodha, you can be anything you want. Just recently on the occasion of International Women’s Day, we partnered with Veena World and to our amazement, over 8000 women came to fulfil their Bollywood dreams over four days at the theme park, adds Desai.
Along with this, Desai is also looking to provide employment opportunities to millions of people by conducting auditions at the park as they have a huge stage and all the possible facilities to create the right scene which they want to enact. He will then send those videos to directors in the industry thus giving these people a smooth platform to showcase their talent.
Tour and travel operators can add ND’s Film World in their itinerary not just when it comes to visiting Maharashtra but also when it comes to visiting India in particular as foreign tourists have long been fascinated with Bollywood.