CR’s revenue from film shootings jumps 36% in 2017-18
CR earned over Rs 15 lakh from the shooting of ‘Gully Boy’
Central Railway (CR) is making the most of its ancillary revenue options, raking in over Rs 1 crore in the last financial year by renting its various premises and trains for film shootings.
During the financial year 2017-18, around 16 films, including advertisements, a web series, and documentaries, were shot at different CR locations by various filmmakers and production houses.
On Wednesday, CRs Chief Public Relations Officer Sunil Udasi told reporters that it earned Rs 15.32 lakh from the shooting of the film ‘Gully Boy’ alone. The film, starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, was shot at the Wadi Bunder yard in South Mumbai.
“It was one the highest revenue generating film for CR,” he said.
“Thanks to our few popular stations, like the old Wadi Bunder yard near Sandhurst Road station and the Apta station (in Panvel area), the Central Railway earned a good revenue from film shoots in the last financial year,” he said.
The earning from film shootings during 2017-18 crossed over Rs 1 crore, while in 2016-17 it was Rs 73.93 lakh, he said, implying an annual increase of 36.43 percent.
Apart from ‘Gully Boy’, CR earned Rs 14.5 lakh from a cola advertisement film shoot at Wathar station near Satara district, and Rs 7 lakh from the shooting of the film ‘Jalebi: Circle of Love’ at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai.
Commenting on the increase in revenue generation through movie shoots, Udasi said the Central Railway has taken an initiative to grant permissions without any hassles to the production houses.
“We have introduced a single-window system to grant permission for the shooting of films and ads, and this way the processing time of applications has reduced. Earlier it used to take around 15 days, but now filmmakers get permission withing a week even there is a requirement for rolling stock (rail coaches),” he said.
Just last week, the Maharashtra cabinet also approved a single window system to grant permission to those wanting to shoot films, television programmes, serials, commercials and documentaries on government land.
The system, under which producers can apply for permission online, will start as a pilot project in Mumbai and would then be extended to the entire state. Once the obline application is filled, the permission will be granted in a period of 15 days.
