Sushant Singh: Noida doesn’t need a film city, filmmakers look for real locations

Sushant Singh’s connection with UP dates back several decades. He grew up in Bijnor, has family in Meerut and often comes to Lucknow and Noida for shoots. The actor was in Noida last month to shoot a sequence for his TV show 'Savdhaan India'. We caught up with Sushant as he talked about his roots in West UP, the sorry state of affairs in Noida Film City, and why the "real UP" can only be shown on screen by filmmakers who were born here or have spent time in the state.
No need for another film city when the existing one is lying unused
Sushant dismisses the need for a film city in Noida. "If I am stepping out of Mumbai, I would think of shooting outdoors. The locations in Mumbai have been done to death now. So I’ll prefer real locations. Outdoor aa kar bhi main indoor kaam karoon… what’s the point of that?" he asks.
He adds, "The authorities are planning to build another film city in Lucknow. I don’t think UP needs more film cities. Like I said, if we come to UP, we need real locations. I’d rather have better infrastructure for that. If I know that all I’ll need is my core team – the actors, director, and the DOP – and everything else will be provided by the film city, only then will I find it feasible to shoot here." Sushant adds, “That will save me the expense of bringing a hundred people to UP and paying for their stay and food over weeks. UP first needs to start institutes where technicians are trained, and create a support structure. Otherwise, any film city will go the Noida way – it will have news studios instead of production houses. How many shoots do you even have in Noida Film City despite it being decades old? The purpose it was built for isn’t being fulfilled. So why do you need another?"
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U.P. students would relate more to 'Haasil' than 'Dil Chahta Hai'
Sushant feels that the students in UP relate to a film like 'Haasil' (which was based on student politics in a UP university) more than the ones that show fancy campuses. "I think 'Haasil' was a watershed moment for cinema that featured UP. The way it showed the reality of university life in the state was refreshing. Usse pehle 'Dil Chahta Hai' jaisi films thi youngsters pe based. I loved the film, but being from UP, I wondered ki aise kaunse log hain jo college ke baad vacations le sakte hain. Hum toh job ke liye bhaagte thay. The youth of UP would relate to films set here more," he says.
New-age filmmakers from U.P. show the state on screen
Sushant has acted in a number of UP-based movies, starting with 'Sehar'. He says that of late, an increase in the number of young filmmakers from the state is the reason UP is getting more visibility on screen. He says, "I think this new crop of filmmakers who are connected to UP – like Tigmanshu Dhulia – prefer to show the state. I appreciate the work of Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar, and Aditya Chopra, but the hinterland in their films is limited to Punjab and the occasional sarson ke khet. Unless you have prominent filmmakers from this region, you cannot have stories of the real UP on the screen. To show UP, you need someone from UP and that change has come about very recently."
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It’s so much easier to shoot in the state now
Sushant says, "At one point, anyone planning to shoot in UP faced the big question of crowd control. People are now used to film shoots here. You need to give credit to the UP government, particularly their film policy. The single window clearance has been great. Lucknow mein jahan shoot karna hai, all you need to do is send a letter to the DM. But all that has taken time."
Sharing his experience from recent shoots in Lucknow and Noida, he adds, "My experience of shooting in UP has been wonderful. While shooting for a movie in Lucknow last year, we had to film an action sequence that required people jumping from one roof to another, and the residents there opened their houses to us without hesitation. We shot 'Savdhaan' in the outskirts of Noida and people were so cordial. Despite it being such a remote location, things went pretty smoothly.”
Will direct a film based on a U.P. story
Having acted in both films and TV, Sushant says that he wants to go behind the camera now. And when he does that, he will base the film in UP – particularly in places like Meerut, Bijnor, Noida – areas he’s familiar with. He explains, "I have wanted to go behind the camera and direct for quite a while now. And when I do, this is the region where I will shoot. This is the region I know and I am familiar with. I know the stories and people from here. Cities like Bijnor, Meerut, Noida and Muzaffarnagar is what I’m familiar with. I can only tell a story with conviction if it’s set here, or at the most involves Delhi University. Jo mujhe maloom hai uske bare mein hi logo ko bata sakta hoon, varna toh fantasy hi hogi woh. The cultural nuances and local flavour of this place is what I want to show on screen when I don the director’s hat. This will be my backdrop, but let’s see what story comes to my mind. I’m looking forward to that!"