Delhi has its historical monuments, Rajasthan its palaces, Kerala its lush backwaters and Mumbai its Bollywood glamour. Hyderabad, despite its fabulous history, languishes between a stifled past and a future not yet fully realized.
There are many (the elderly) who still narrate outlandish tales of Hyderabad’s magnificent deoris — sprawling walled estates — and of the city’s fragrant gardens and refined etiquette, stories that were passed down the generations.
Most of them just can’t believe that most of it just evaporated in the last few decades.
Even though Hyderabad may have reinvented itself lately as Cyberabad, home to offices of top technology companies, most of the historical monuments are gone (barring their ruins).
“Everything’s gone now,” moan the elderly, thanks to factors like government neglect, citizen apathy, and the financial collapse of the aristocracy after the state was absorbed into India in 1948. Much of the old Hyderabad has been decimated, giving way to a congested urban abyss.
Bollywood, on its part, still gets fascinated by the various historical monuments that still exists in & around the city (even though some of them are just ruins).
Here are some of the locations where Bollywood has filmed scenes/songs:
Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, India, Scene: Ayeshya proposes Salman followed by a fight sequence
Qutb Shahi Tombs, Hyderabad, India, Song: Mujhse Shaadi Karogi
Humayun’s Tomb (Hyderabad, India)
Mughal Garden, Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad, India
Charminar (English movie ‘Morning Raga’)
Ajay Devgn’s Singham Returns also had a few sequences (from the song ‘Kuch Toh Hua Hai’) shot at Golconda Fort in Hyderabad. It seems a couple of decades back, Ajay Devgn had filmed a few scenes for his movie Naayajaz in the year 1995 at the same place.
Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, India
Charminar, Hyderabad, India
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Returning to Hyderabad, Once a Land of Princes and Palaces
New York Times Delhi has its historical monuments, Rajasthan its palaces, Kerala its lush backwaters and Mumbai its Bollywood glamour. Hyderabad languishes, suspended between a stifled past and a future not yet fully realized. The week I arrived, a politician was … |
