Most expensive Indian films in history

Most expensive Indian films in history

Movies have the ability to take you to a magical realm, where the limit is your imagination. They can create imaginary worlds and fill them with interesting characters. They can even turn back time and take you to the past and make you witness the stories of those days. It doesn't matter what the story is and it takes them on an exciting journey. Which affects both young and old equally.

Most expensive Indian films in history

10. Padmaavat (2018)

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat faced a lot of opposition from groups who were in favor of banning the film. Despite all the opposition, the film was released and became the highest grossing film of all time. Audiences and critics appreciated the visuals and were surprised by Bhansali's portrayal of the Rajput empire. The film, starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, is a period drama that is a fictional account of Queen Padmavati. The story is of the attack on Chittor Fort by Alauddin Khilji of Delhi Sultanate. The film was originally scheduled to be shot at Chittor Fort in Chittor, but due to protests the shooting had to be shifted. Bhansali decided to recreate the Chittor Fort in a studio in Mumbai and he did a fantastic job on it. The set looked exactly like the original and the overall movie looked amazing

9. Detective Byomkesh Bakshy (2015)

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy was another period film set in pre-independence Calcutta in 1942. The story is based on the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshy created by Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay and stars Sushant Singh Rajput in the lead role. The challenge for director Dibakar Banerjee was to create the atmosphere of war-torn Calcutta with its nostalgic feel, old buildings and ancient cars and trams. Set designers Vandana Kataria and Dibakar Banerjee worked together to create the Calcutta they had envisioned and created the old city. The film was successful in its portrayal of the old city of Calcutta and impressed audiences with its highly detailed set designs.

8. Bajirao Mastani (2015)

The set of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani has gone down in history as the best set of a film ever. When we thought Bhansali couldn't top his last project, boy were we wrong! Not only has Bhansali been on top in his previous projects, but he has also raised the bar of set design to a level that only he can dare to match. His imaginative talent is unmatched as he brings to life the eras of the past and makes them larger than life. For his magnum opus, Bajirao Mastani, Sanjay Leela Bhansali built the second most expensive set in history. He reportedly asked for the set of 'Mughal-e-Azam', which is considered to be one of the most expensive sets ever built, to be recreated for his film. Aina Mahal has become the second most expensive set after Mughal-e-Azam. The set was designed by Sujit Sriram and Saloni and took 45 days to build. Over 20,000 intricately designed mirrors have been used which were selected from Jaipur.

7. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015)

Salman Khan's Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is one of the most expensive films ever made in India. Director Sooraj Barjatya is known for depicting an extravagant lifestyle for his characters and he has lived up to his reputation in this regard as well. He ordered huge and expensive sets to be built for his film. This film tells the story of the rich prince of Pritampur. The Royal Palace, said to be the largest set ever built, was built especially for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. It features the towering forts of Rajasthan, but the makers also built the iconic Sheesh Mahal to shoot a certain scene in the film. Lights were an important part of the set and apparently the budget for lights alone was around Rs 13-15 crore for a 258-day schedule. Made on a budget of Rs 90 crore, luckily for the director, the extravagance proved to be effective as the film has now become one of the highest-grossing films of all time.

6. Bombay Velvet (2015)

Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet is set in the 1960s, before Bombay became Mumbai as it is now. The film had to make the city look like it was in the 60s. Considered to be Anurag Kashyap's most expensive project, the director asked to build the entire Old Bombay city on a 9.5-acre land in Colombo. Everything in the city was rebuilt from scratch, from the buildings themselves to the interiors of the buildings and even fine details like signage and interiors and decorations. The sets reportedly took 11 months to build and the entire film was made on a budget of Rs 120 crore. When asked why he decided to build a set in Sri Lanka, Anurag said, "We came to Sri Lanka because it is the only country where we could make the film at the same cost and in the same number of days." Shooting it. Because of the influence of the British and the Portuguese in the making of Bombay, I visited many countries where the Portuguese went, from Sao Paulo to Shanghai because many period films have been shot to recreate my Mumbai until Vivek had to Mr. not found. Lanka. We chose Sri Lanka for many reasons. Despite its big budget, the film failed to perform and was regarded as a disaster at the box office.

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5. Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013)

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a master of visually stunning films. Every movie of his has amazed the audience with the kind of set that this man has presented. Their depictions look authentic and it's hard to tell that it was a set and not a real location. The way they created a rural Gujarati village looked precise in the minutest details and one could believe that they shot in Gujarat even though it was a set built in a studio. His dance sequences brought magic to the screen with songs like 'Nagada Sang' and 'Aang Laga De' showcasing the grandeur of Bhansali's vision. Nagada Sang Dhol Baje, sung by Shreya Ghoshal, featured a huge set of Haveli courtyard. The set further enhanced the brilliance of the energy pumping song, with the film's production designer Wasiq Khan finding the experience of building the sets for Ram-Leela "different" from his previous films. Bhansali and Khan spent about 2–3 months observing locations and discussing references and images. According to Khan, despite the decision to shoot half of the film on sets and the other half on real locations, 90 percent of the film was shot on sets due to difficulties in shooting action sequences in real locations.

4. Jodha Akbar (2008)

A period film like Jodha Akbar is no easy feat to pull off. With its towering forts, large armies and ancient traditions, a period film requires extreme precision to be made efficiently. Directing a film with a story involving the lavish lifestyles of the Mughal Emperor Akbar set in the 1500’s would make filmmakers have second thoughts even today. But Ashutosh Gowariker brought his vision on to the big screen a decade ago and how! Jodha Akbar was a visual treat in every sense which took us back in time and brought to life the era of the past. Huge sets were created in Karjat, where most of the shooting took place, to recreate the lifestyle of the Mughal Emperors. Their lavish forts with large and meticulously decorated chambers along with entire gardens with fountains were made. Every frame looked grand and visually rich. The sets designed by Nitin Chandrakant Desai, were so detailed that they have now been been opened to tourists

3. Saawariya (2007)

By now Sanjay Leela Bhansali had become synonymous to grandeur and magnificence. His next, Saawariya, became the talk of the town even before its release for its extensive sets. First, it was the debut film for Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor and second the film featured a fictional fairy-tale like city that was brought to the big screen right out of Bhansali’s imagination. The film defined beauty and Bhansali made sure that every scene looked pleasing to the eye. Each frame looked breathtaking with magical sets of the snow covered locations that completely mesmerised the viewers. The city was complete with lakes, streets, shops, signages and a clock tower. An entire city for a movie? Only Sanjay Leela Bhansali could do this. The art director Omung Kumar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali worked together to create the magic on screen. Even though the film did not fare well in the box office, it was appreciated for its beautiful set design.

2. Devdas (2002)

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas was a visually stunning film that paid extensive attention to detail. Being the perfectionist that he is, Bhansali put in almost 9 months of work into designing the sets and the visuals for the film. He went to great lengths to ensure that the sets he was creating were accurate to represent Calcutta as it was in the 1930s. Building the sets took even longer than that. A massive figure of Rs 20 crores was spent on the making of the sets. Out of that, 12 crores were spent on creating Chandramukhi's kotha alone! The kotha was built in a studio around an artificial lake to make it look like it was located in Benares next to the Ganges. Another intricately designed set was Paro’s haveli decorated with 122,000,008 pieces of stained glass. Bhansali’s efforts paid off as the film became the highest grossing film that year in India and abroad. Despite receiving mixed reviews in India upon release, Devdas was critically acclaimed among western film critics, and is considered as one of the greatest films ever made

1. Mughal-e-Azam (1960)

A film made in 1960, this film was the most expensive one to have been made in India at that time. It is the story of the love affair between Mughal Prince Salim and Anarkali, a court dancer. Salim's father, Emperor Akbar, disapproves of the relationship, which leads to a fight between the father and son. It is said to be one of the finest films ever made in India and has gained a cult classic status over time. It became the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time, a title which it retained for 15 years! Reportedly, just the song sequences in the film were costlier than entire movies in that era. The iconic song ‘Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya’ was shot in a replica of the Sheesh Mahal in the Lahore Fort. The set was marvelled upon for its sheer size and its intricate design accuracy complete with pieces of Belgian glass. The whole set took two years to be built and cost a whopping amount of Rs 1.5 million.

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