South Asian Business news and information

Till now, I have been talking about Jodhaa Akbar and its prequel Mughal-E-Azam. How about the studio where Jodhaa Akbar was shot? This big budget movie of Ashutosh Gowariker was shot at the N.D. Studio in Karjat.

How it was created?
Our story goes back not long ago. In 2004, Oscar winning director, Oliver Stone came to India to shoot his movie, Alexander. He along with Nitin Desai, searched for suitable locations for shooting his movie but could not find any. There was not any studio that could fulfill his requirements. This incident gave Nitin Desai the inspiration to open up a studio with moden equipments and facilities. Thus, the N.D. studio was born. 

Nitin Desai: the creator
Nitin Desai is a prominent art director in Bollywood. He has been working for twenty two years. So far, he designed sets of 85 movies and won numerous awards including: National Award, Filmfare Award, Screen Award Sansui Viewers' Choice Movie Award, and IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) Award. Nitin has worked with many prominent directors of Indian cinema. No doubt, that such a brilliant director with an depth understanding of movies and movie making can create a studio like that.

N.D. Studio:
N.D. Studio is the first studio of its kind in India. It is truly a well equipped studio with all the latest facilities.

Location:
N.D. Studio is situated 88 kilometers from Mumabi at Karjat in Thane district. It is located near the Matheran mountains on the outskirts of Karjat.

Total area:
The studio is built over 52 acre area.

Indoor studio:
N.D. Studio is like a one stop mall for movie makers. The studio sports all types of latest equipments and facilities any Hollywood studio can offer. At present, there are two in door studios with latest equipments. They are fully air conditioned. The studios are sound proof to support the latest sync sound technology. A German made huge 12’ x 48’ sliding double door separates the two studios. If necessary, the studios can be used separately or combined and turned into one huge studio.

Outdoor locations:
Situated near a picturesque location near the Matheran mountains, N.D. studio offers ideal out door locations. It has a 350’x500’ open ground, 300’x200’ open ground with a stream, chalet, train track, Indian temple, tree avenues, lawn, and orchard.

Other facilities:
The facilities of the studio includes shooting equipments, offices, telephones, internet services, tele fax, courier, post facilities, intercoms, makeup rooms, property store rooms, changing rooms, rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms, executive rooms, dormitories, dining areas, kitchen, toilets, and security systems and so on. Near the main entrance, there is also a helipad. Busy stars can come to the studio using helicopter. While shooting Jodhaa Akbar, Hrithik Roshan used to come from Mumbai by helicopter.
 
Support system:
Support system consists of various departments to assist the film makers in recreating the back ground environment of the film. There are prop shop, fabrication workshop, transport facilities, tapestry department, construct and equipment and various other facilties.

Two year anniversary celebration:
On March 8, 2007 the studio celebrated its second anniversary. Famous Bollywood celebrities such as, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Hritik Roshan, Ashutosh and Sunita Gowarikar, Manmohan, Madhur Bhandarkar, Vidhhu Vinod Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Feroz Khan, Ketan Mehta, Deepa Sahi, Deepti Naval and Shiv Sena president, Uddhav Thackeray attended the ceremony.

Amitabh Bachchan was the chief guest of the show. In his speech, he admitted that when Nitin Desai showed him the photos of the studio, he was very much impressed but he thought that building such a studio would not be possible but he was happy that his assumption was proven wrong.

A sound and light show was organized by Ravi Dewan, the action director and a fashion show was presented by famous fashion designer, Neeta Lulla. Both Neeta and Ravi are working in Jodhaa Akbar.

Future plan:
In future, Nitin Desai is planning to expand the studio and is also planning to build the Seven Wonders of the World, a film and television institute and a special effects studio.

Liked this entry? Then, why not support me? Just subscribe the feed of this blog at free of charge, Please.

If you want to see the photos of the anniversary celebration visit the following links: 
Now Running

India FM

Business Of Cinema

Useful Links:
http://www.nitindesaionline.com

http://www.ndstudioindia.com

http://www.indiafm.com/news/2007/03/08/9056/index.html

http://www.realbollywood.com/news/2007/03/nd-studio-holding-bollywood-in-awe.html

http://www.businessofcinema.com/boc/?file=story&id=2625

http://businessofcinema.com/boc/index.php?file=story&id=2604

http://www.movietalkies.com/artists/index.asp?ArtistId=42450