How DU meets the shooting cut-off

Recently, during the shoot of Half Girlfriend at SRCC, the college's sports complex was used to shoot an inter-zonal basketball match between two colleges, 'Stevens' and 'Raj Hans' (the names used instead of St Stephen's and Hans Raj in the film). The film's crew then went on to shoot at St Stephen's and Miranda House also. A few months ago, Sridevi, Akshaye Khanna and Boney Kapoor turned SRCC's campus into 'Green Field School' for their upcoming movie, 'Mom'.Whether it was Ranveer Singh singing Tarkeebein ('Band Baaja Baaraat') at Hans Raj's basketball court or Ranbir Kapoor singing Jo Bhi Main ('Rockstar') under Hindu College's famous Virgin Tree, it got Delhi's young crowd talking, not just because the songs had their favourite actors, but also because the scenes were shot in very recognizable DU colleges. DU colleges often host film crews as North Campus is becoming as popular a shooting spot as India Gate when it comes to showing Delhi in films. As this trend increases, we explore what makes a college shooting-friendly and what all goes into bringing big stars to shoot inside DU.
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200 DU students part of 'Half Girlfriend' shoot
Trend started with Band Baaja...
Manishh Mehra, a line producer in the city, tells us that the trend of shooting in DU started with 'Band Baaja Baaraat', which was shot at Hans Raj College and Ramjas College in 2010. "Before this movie, people didn't realise that they could shoot so easily in DU. With 'Band Baaja Baaraat', big stars entered DU to shoot, and soon, others followed. Earlier, when someone wanted to shoot in Delhi, they went to places like India Gate and Red Fort, but 'Band Baaja Baaraat' gave directors a new location to shoot in. Then, they started writing scripts keeping the Delhi University area in mind," he says.
Ravi Sarin, another line producer, adds, "In the past three-four years, DU has become a popular spot to shoot films in. Comparatively, Mumbai is expensive, and if someone wants to show Delhi, directors choose DU. Koi bhi sirf college mein shoot karne nahi aata. Jab Delhi ke aas-pass shoot karna hota hai, tabhi aate hain."
SRCC, Hindu, Hans Raj, Miranda ' the most shooting-friendly colleges
Navmeet Singh, another line producer, tells us that SRCC, Hindu, Hans Raj and Miranda House are the most shooting-friendly colleges. "Yeh colleges shoot ke liye mana nahi karte, bas yeh hota hai ki college ki image na kharab ho. St Stephen's didn't allow shoots before, and even now when they allow them, the authorities are very picky. They think that hostellers will get disturbed because of us," he says. Another line producer adds, "Stephen's mein problem hoti hai, angrezon ka college hai na, toh unhe lagta hai ki hum disturb karenge."
Why only North campus?
Navmeet explains that people can identify North Campus colleges more easily because of their structure and design. "Delhi dikhana hota hai toh yahi colleges ke baare mein logon ko pata hai. We want to show the colleges that people can easily identify as Delhi colleges."
Manishh adds that the reason why North Campus is favoured is because all the colleges are nearby. He adds, "Compared to South Campus, the colleges in North Campus are near each other. So, if someone is shooting in DU for four days, then they can shoot at SRCC for a day, maybe at Hans Raj on the second day and a scene on the road in between. If they want a market scene, they can go to Kamla Nagar."
Rules laid down by College authorities for shoots
Despite the increasing number of shoots happening in DU, not everyone gets the permission to shoot in colleges. "We got two proposals for film shoots last year, but we said no. We are renovating our infrastructure, and we were apprehensive about letting them shoot in case the crew damages the renovated structure. Also, I was appointed last year only, so I did not allow any shoot. We might allow shoots later, but not right now," says Dinesh Khattar, acting principal, Kirori Mal College.

RP Rustagi, acting principal, SRCC, adds, "Though the college only provides the space for the shoot, there are some details that we take in writing from them, like which area they will shoot in. We also ask about the number of people (cast and crew) they will bring. It is also mentioned beforehand that no fixed property of the college should be harmed during the shoot. We don't allow outsiders inside the campus. We never let them shoot on our working days, so they are only here on Sundays or during the summer break."
Colleges also prefer to know the background of the movie before allowing a shoot in the college premises. Javed Khan, a line producer, says, "College authorities generally put conditions like there should be no damage to their property. They sometimes read the script to make sure that there is nothing against the college or anything that can create a controversy. One problem we faced during Mom's shoot was that the student union bodies asked us to show the script. But nothing happened during Half Girlfriend's shoot."

Littering, sharing & more: jab cast & crew become a part of the campus
During a movie shoot in SRCC, we overheard a guard saying, 'Main nahi khol raha yeh park. Yahan aake sab kha ke chale jayenge aur ganda kar denge. Saaf kaun karega?' (referring to the junior artists who were having lunch). Hostellers from Miranda House, where 'Half Girlfriend' was being shot, also say that littering is an issue. Aanchal Kashyap, one of the hosteller, says, "They have actually invaded the entire area. But that's not the problem. Itna ganda kar dete hain campus, phir shaam ko safai hoti hai."
Talking about another aspect of film crews shooting inside campus, Smriti Singh, a Miranda hosteller, adds, "It gets interesting at times. We have been lending our stuff to many junior artistes on the sets. For instance, if they come wearing pants and are told to arrange for skirts, they ask us if we have skirts or heels or anything else that they need."
The canteen sales also go up when there is a shoot happening. Sanjeev Kumar, who runs a coffee stall in Miranda House, says that his sale went up by 50% when Half Girlfriend was being shot in the lawns near his stall. "Waise toh vacation ke time sale zayada nahi hoti, par inki shooting ki wajah se meri sale 50% zyada ho gayi thi. Scene karke kaafi log jaldi se cold coffee peene aa jaate thay," he says. Jai Chand, who has an ice cream stall outside Miranda, adds, "I sold at least 300-400 ice creams every day during the shoot. Mostly junior artists come, but I also got bulk orders of 200-300 ice creams from the set."