Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra wanted virgin locations for the shoot of his upcoming poignant tragic love story, Mirzya.

Mirzya has been entirely been shot at the virgin locations in Rajasthan and Ladakh.

Rakeysh has shot the film exquisitely in the bleak and desolate terrain of Ladakh and the vibrancy of colorful Rajasthan.

The filmmaker shot very close to India-Pakistan border, in Thulia (17 Km from the border). They had to take permissions from BSF and IB to shoot. The team use to travel 90 km every day to reach the shoot locations.

He was keen to explore only virgin locations, where no Bollywood film has been shot till date.

So the director and his team did an extensive recce before shortlisting the following locations in Ladakh and Rajasthan:

1. Nubara valley Ladhak.

2. Pahelgaum lake Ladhak.

3. Shiv Niwas Palace Udaipur.

4. Fatehgarh Palace Udaipur.

5. Thulia, Jaisalmer. 17 km far from India - Pakistan border.

6. Ranau, Jaiselmer.

Most of the above locations are completely untouched, while the other locations have unique situations... Like no one has ever shot during monsoon in Ladhak. This is the first time Mehra has gone out and done this.


Rakeysh has a hawk's eye when it comes to locking locations for his films.

He shares, " Right from the story of the legend of Mirza Sahiban, the folklore, I wanted to picturize this in my imaginative world for which we traveled to Ladakh and went to the remote corners, which is beyond Pangong Tso lake and Nyoma. There I found these absolute virgin locations which were on the border of China, so the army helped us a lot. Similarly, when we were filming the climax of the present day story in Rajasthan, it took us to the remote desert areas which are beyond Jaisalmer, Phulia and on the border areas of Barmer. Once again, the local tourism board and the army were very helpful because these are restricted areas for any normal person to go"

Mirzya is a contemporary love story, starring Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher and releases on October 7, 2016.