That Delhi is emerging as a major shooting hub for Bollywood films is reiterated, as Anupam Kher states that films are rarely shot in Mumbai anymore.

Delhi's bylanes and wide roads have turned into sets for many a movie shoot recently, and the upsurge in film shoots in the capital is no coincidence. At a recent event in the city, actor Anupam Kher said that these days, very few Bollywood films are shot in Mumbai, and the filmmakers are looking for locations elsewhere. He also added that Delhi needs to have its infrastructure in place to facilitate film shootings. Anupam said, "Most of our shooting is happening in Delhi, reports The Times of India.

The infrastructure is in Mumbai, even Kolkata and the south have their infrastructure in place. Now, movies are very rarely shot in Mumbai, it's only TV serials that are shot there. What we need is infrastructure in other cities, more studios, revision in subsidies and other facilities, because it's very expensive to fly technicians from Mumbai." The actor, speaking at the event hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), also opined that India is not being projected as a shooting hub despite the presence of so many picturesque locales. "We are not selling India as a shooting destination.

Foreigners are coming to India to shoot poverty, crowded streets, the ghats of Banaras or Kerala's beaches. India has much more to it than all this. What we need is more professionalism," he added.

Kher also gave examples of other countries which became popular tourist destinations after they became shooting-friendly. "Many countries like Georgia and Mauritius became popular because many films were shot there. There's a train named after the late Yash Chopra in Switzerland. I think we need to talk about developing India into a shooting destination. Indian filmmakers are going to other countries as they are being invited. I don't know whether we are calling foreign directors to come and shoot here. However, I am positive about this. Our prime minister has spoken about developing tourism," he said.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui was also at the event, and he and Anupam had different views on the creative divorce between Indian cinema and global cinema and how the share of Indian films in the global scene has reduced. Anupam said, "I don't think we need to look at the international market that much. Our cinema still has a sense of wonder. SRK or Akshay Kumar today can do what a Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt can. But a Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise cannot look into the heroine's eyes and sing, 'Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam'." Nawazzudin, on the other hand, said that we need to tell stories of our country to the world.

"Jab hum NSD mein thay, humaare Moscow se ek professor ne bola ki tumhaare desh mein bahut khushaali hai kyunki tum log sab dance kar rahe hote ho. I think there are several stories in our country and those stories can only be told through the medium of films," Nawazuddin said.