Mumbai:
Local authorities have demolished a major set in Bhopal where patchwork scenes for the film Aarakshan between actors Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan were scheduled to be shot later this month.
The demolition was ordered by the District Magistrate'soffice.
The set that has been demolished included an entire bungalow that belongs to the character played by Amitabh Bachhan in the film and parts of the tabela, where informal schools were set up in the film. This particular set was spread over an acre and a half of land.
Prakash Jha Productions had taken the land on lease fromMinal Residency Group, not realising that it was disputedproperty.
From end-January till end of March shooting had takenplace on the constructed set.
"We had no idea that the land where we had constructedthe set was disputed. But I do feel that even though thedemolition had to go through, the authorities knew we hadconstructed only temporary structures for the purpose ofshooting. Why demolish it? It would have been dismantledwithin a month. Everyone in Bhopal knew it was a set," PrakashJha said.
"The demolition has definitely upset our plans. Thereason we had left the set standing was because there were acouple of patchwork scenes with Saif and Deepika that remainedto be shot. Now we have to work out alternative arrangements,"he said.
ADM Bhopal Rajnish Shrivastava said, "It was an illegalstructure, so it was demolished. The High Court had directedus to demolish the structure. We did what we were supposed to,because the construction on that area was not legal."
The demolition was ordered by the District Magistrate'soffice.
The set that has been demolished included an entire bungalow that belongs to the character played by Amitabh Bachhan in the film and parts of the tabela, where informal schools were set up in the film. This particular set was spread over an acre and a half of land.
Prakash Jha Productions had taken the land on lease fromMinal Residency Group, not realising that it was disputedproperty.
From end-January till end of March shooting had takenplace on the constructed set.
"We had no idea that the land where we had constructedthe set was disputed. But I do feel that even though thedemolition had to go through, the authorities knew we hadconstructed only temporary structures for the purpose ofshooting. Why demolish it? It would have been dismantledwithin a month. Everyone in Bhopal knew it was a set," PrakashJha said.
"The demolition has definitely upset our plans. Thereason we had left the set standing was because there were acouple of patchwork scenes with Saif and Deepika that remainedto be shot. Now we have to work out alternative arrangements,"he said.
ADM Bhopal Rajnish Shrivastava said, "It was an illegalstructure, so it was demolished. The High Court had directedus to demolish the structure. We did what we were supposed to,because the construction on that area was not legal."
