Central Railway has earned over ₹ 2.32 crore in the calendar year 2022 by offering its various premises and rail coaches for film shootings. This is the highest ever revenue earned by Central Railway in any calendar year. Around 14 films were shot this year, including 8 feature films, 3 web series, one documentary, one short film and an advertisement at different Central Railway locations by various filmmakers and production houses.
Feature films biggest contributors
Central Railway earned highest revenue of ₹1.27 crore from the feature film ‘2 Brides’ shot at Yeola, Kanhegaon stations with Special Train for 18 days. Another feature film shot at Apta Railway Station with Special train for 3 days fetched Rs. 29.40 lakhs. Central Railway with its seamless process attracted production houses to use its location for film shooting and generated this record revenue.
The highest ever Film Shooting earning by Central Railway in a calendar year from January to December 2022. i.e ₹ 2.32 crore, when compared to the last year i.e 2021 earning of ₹ 1.17 crore, shows an increase of 99% with a net increased earning of ₹ 1.159 crore.
CSMT most preferred location
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai continues to be the most preferred film shooting location for film makers as 5 films were shot at this UNESCO World Heritage Railway station, including an Ad Film of Sunfeast Mom’s Magic. The other popular film shooting locations were Apta station near Panvel, Wathar station enroute Pune to Kolhapur. Other locations like Mumbaikars' summer reprieve ‘Matheran’, Central Railway Sports Academy complex at Parel, Dadar, Karjat, old Wadi Bunder yard and new emerging locations like Yeola, Kanhegaon station between Manmad & Ahmednagar, Narayan Doho on the new section between Ahmednagar & Ashti were also used for shooting purposes.
Process simplified to help filmmakers: official
A senior official said, "Thanks to our popular locations like Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Railway Station, the old Wadi Bunder yard, Wathar (near Satara) and the Apta station (in Panvel area). The initiatives to grant permission without any hassles to the production houses enabled Central Railway to earn record revenue from film shoots. Many box office hit films were shot over Central Railway like Slum Dog Millionaire, Kaminey, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Ra-one, Raavan, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Dilwale Dulaniya Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dabangg, Darbaar, Rang de Basanti, Baaghi, Khaki, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, and many others hit films."
The most preferred film shooting location were Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and other popular stations like Apta, Panvel, Lonavala, Khandala, Wathar, Satara and railway yards like Turbhe and Wadi bunder. The permission for the film shooting is granted by the Public Relations Department of Central Railway. Recently, to expedite the film shooting permission, a single window system has been introduced. This simplification of the procedure will enable the film companies to obtain permission after submission of the necessary documents along with the script and application mentioning the requirements.
