VIAREGGIO. The first shot of “Ajab Gazab Love”, a new Bollywood film produced by Pooja Entertainment and directed by Sanjay Gadhvi, was canned at Mumbai’s Mehboob studio last April. Yet, cast and crew will be in Viareggio, a seaside place on the northern shores of Tuscany, until Sunday 10 June in order to shoot some scenes of the film.
Four different areas of Viareggio, a 60,000-inhabitant town by the sea, will be used as set. This afternoon, video cameras filmed the first shots in front of Bagno Nettuno, one of the innumerable bathing establishments located just next to the stylish Passeggiata (“promenade”), where tourists can enjoy prestigious cafés, hotels, shops and restaurants. Monumental Art-Noveau-style buildings will figure as charming background of scenes with chants and dances.
Tomorrow the crew will move to another idyllic spot of Viareggio, the zone between the Passeggiata and the Darsena, the harbour area. It is here that the Burlamacca canal flows, halving the town.
For three consecutive days, from Thursday 7 June to Saturday 9 June, shots will be taken along the seacoast in Torre del Lago. This neighbourhood is renowned for the Festival Puccini, an opera festival which attracts tourists from all over the world. The most famous operas of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini are performed. The film will be set in a promenade characterised by bars, bathing establishments, restaurants and, above all, clubs, which make Torre del Lago a vibrant, popular destination for nightlife.
Finally, the production will be back to the promenade on Sunday 10 June in order to shoot a fourth sequence. The location will be Bagno Balena, another notable bathing establishment which can now boast a gym, a restaurant with terrace and a series of swimming pools.
Lucca-based company “Occhi di Ulisse”, which has solid relationships with Indian film productions, took the crew to shoot some scenes in Viareggio.
Marquee stars such as Arjun Rampal, Arshad Warsi and Kirron Kher appear in the cast of the film. Moreover, “Ajab Gazabb Love” will be the second hindi film for famous actress and model Nidhi Subbaiah.
Apart from the actors of the film, several prominent names from Bollywood turned up to support Vashu Bhagnani, who is the producer. While Sajid Khan broke the traditional coconut to get the film to an auspicious start, Rajkumar Santoshi gave the clap, Boney Kapoor rolled the camera and David Dhawan called action.
The mahurat of the film was a star studded affair. Also, seen are actress Dia Mirza, Sajid-Wajid, Anu Malik, Satish Kaushik, Satish Shah, Shradha Pandit and Ratan Jain among others.
(Special thanks to Tanuj Lakhina)
@GorskiPark
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