From Slumdog Millionaire to Wake Up Sid: Here are Mumbai's iconic 'Bollywood love' spots

Slumdog Millionaire- 2008
Location CST (formerly VT) Station
If it is Dharavi where Jamal is the so-called 'slumdog', it is Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus where he redeems his hero status, reunited with the love of his life Latika (Freida Pinto). This is where Jai Ho, which plays along with the end credits, was choreographed with a troupe of 100 dancers in true-blue Bollywood style.

Mumbai has often been described as the place you either love, hate or love to hate and the cinematic portrayal of the city has mirrored this notion. If New York has a specific identity in Hollywood, it is Mumbai that offers the alternative in Hindi films. "It is at once the city of dreams as well as the corrupt, dark Gotham city that births gangsters," observes Nasreen Munni Kabir, a documentary filmmaker and film writer.

Different genres of cinema have looked at different aspects of the city. "There was Gaman (1978), where Farooq Shaikh played a taxi driver and the poignant question 'Seene mein jalan, aankhon mein toofan sa kyon hai? Is sheher mein har shaqs pareshaan sa kyon hai?' remains. Then there was Satya (1998), which turned Mumbai inside out and showed us its sleazy side, onionsmelling bars and slippery-with-body-fluids rooms. There was Rohan Sippy's Bluffmaster! (2005), which rephrased the city, looking for forgotten beauty. And there were those neglected films-Chhoti Si baat (1975), Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) and Gharonda (1977)," remembers Jerry Pinto, author, poet and journalist.

Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na- 2008
Location Bandra Fort

Bandra Fort is where Jai (Imran Khan) knows he can find his best friend Aditi (Genelia D'Souza) every time she's feeling blue. The film's most popular song 'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi' is filmed here, while Jai tries to cheer her up after she loses her kitten.

According to Rachel Dwyer, Professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema at SOAS , University of London, it is director Raj Khosla who best depicts the grimy side of the city in his noir films. His 1956 film CID, she says, is a wonderful example with images of Worli Seaface in 'Le ke pehla pehla pyar', the streets of 'Ye hai Mumbai meri jaan' and the rain-soaked urban night scenes. "Offbeat films are adventurous. Kiran Rao's Dhobi Ghat (2011), used wonderful locations, for example. It's also a pleasure to see the city in older films, such as Marine Drive in Anmol Ghadi (1946) or Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978). Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958) has some great shots of the city as do many of Guru Dutt's films, including Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955)," says Dwyer.

The cinematic lens gets a rose-tinted hue when romance is the genre in question. The Mumbai rain allows for the perfect setting to showcase love and longing, notes Dwyer, who has written an essay on 'Rimjhim gire saawan' one of her favourite songs shot in the city, "when Moushumi and Amitabh run about the rain, 'owning the city'."

Wake Up Sid- 2009
Location Nariman Point

Sid's (Ranbir Kapoor) realisation of his love for Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma) comes just in time with the first rain in Mumbai. The city soaked in a shower of romance is best enjoyed at Nariman Point, and even the new girl in the city knows that.

Quite often, iconic spots become characters in themselves. Danny Boyle's ode to the city and its underdog hero, Slumdog Millionaire (2008) has the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST ) play the role of the matchmaker. That's where Jamal (Dev Patel) finally reunites with his long-lost love Latika (Freida Pinto). But Jerry Pinto sees this image of the CST station as the "Mumbai-asmnemonic" filmmakers often employ. "Mumbai has been under-utilised, either because of the bureaucratic difficulties or because of the laziness of filmmakers.

Saathiya- 2002
Location The Local Train

Having met each other briefly at a friend's wedding, Aditya (Vivek Oberoi) chooses the local train to propose marriage to Suhani (Rani Mukherjee). A remake of Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey, the original was shot in the trains of Chennai.

Why isn't Banganga used more often? Or the lovely art deco precincts around Shivaji Park?" he questions. In Shaad Ali's Saathiya (2002) (a remake of Mani Ratnam's Tamil film, Alaipayuthey), which explores a new form of marriage of a couple living together as equals and discovering themselves in the process, it is the local train, the lifeline of Mumbai city, that plays a crucial role. "The train journey creates a dimension to their quest, as the couple moves around on the local trains, finding themselves through loving and forgiving," points out Dwyer, who admits to having a personal fondness for the film. "I introduced Shaad to Yash Chopra and went to the screening of Mani Ratnam's film after which Shaad joined YRF," she exclaims.

Bombay- 1995
Location Gateway of India

Clearly the most recognisable symbol of the city, the film's poster has the couple pose against the backdrop of the Gateway of India. In the film, it features prominently as the spot the happy couple brings their twin boys to before the city begins to burn.

Another Mani Ratnam film, Bombay (1995), depicts the broad-mindedness of Mumbai pre-1992. It is in Bombay that Shekhar (Arvind Swamy) and Shaila Banoo (Manisha Koirala) are able to marry and start a family, away from their conservative families in Tamil Nadu. Whether it is the image of them running down the steps of Town Hall after their registered marriage or clowning around with their twin boys at the Gateway of India, Mumbai before the riots is a friend of this multi-cultural family. Here Simply Mumbai pays ode to the romantic portrayals of the city in films that showcased some of the most recognisable spots of Mumbai.