Zoya has an eye for detail and is very sure of what she wants. While a major chunk of the film has been shot on the cruise. Exotic locations have made for a great canvas of the film.
Zoya along with a small team personally went and narrowed down places where she would like to shoot for the film. They narrowed down on cities and shot in the best locations in Turkey such as, Antalya, Cappadocia and Istanbul.
The visuals are breathtaking and at the same time capture the essence of the city - the culture, the vibe. Even though production was a mammoth task they have not compromised on the locations.
Says Ritesh Sidhwani "The pre production on this film was crucial and had to planned to the smallest detail as the script written by Zoya and Reema involved shooting on a cruise which was sailing through Spain, Italy, France and Tunisia We only had a few hours on each port of call to disembark and shoot in that city before heading back to the ship. Our production team did a fantastic job in ensuring Zoya got what she wanted without comprising her vision for the film"
Keeping in mind the eclectic cast it was a tough shoot to manoeuvre but it all panned out seamlessly.
In fact they have shot in places such as Taksim Square, Galata street, Eminonu Promenade but the team had acquired permissions much in advance to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Says Zoya Akhtar, "Only excel could have pulled this off - can you imagine the whole crew is in a new country everyday .. That is what it is like to be on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. It was logistically insane, visually gorgeous and emotionally cathartic. I don't think anyone will ever forget this shoot"