Come to Bombay of the ’60s right here in Tissamaharama
Inside the Bombay Velvet night club, the jet set of the city listen enthralled as the sultry voice of a songstress fills the air while outside, along the tarred well-lit roads, vintage cars and trams buzz by. It’s the swinging sixties in the city of Bombay (present day Mumbai); India’s city of opportunity where millions migrate each year seeking a better life and where along with larger than life celluloid stars, criminals mingle and the excitement never dies.
Lankan talent: Creating sets from plush clubs to a street shop in Bombay
This is the Bombay to which millions of cinema-goers will be taken back in time to when Bombay Velvet, the much hyped Bollywood movie by Anurag Kashyap, one of India’s leading film directors, hits the cinemas on Friday (May 15).
And while Sri Lankan fans of Hindi films will no doubt know that two of Bollywood’s leading stars Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma play the lead roles in Bombay Velvet, what is less known is that the Bombay of yore where the story of boxer Johnny Balraj and aspiring jazz singer Rosie unfolds is much closer to home for Lankans than for Mumbaiites or Indians, thanks to a team of talented Lankans who took up the challenge to create from scratch a film set of the Bombay of the ’60 s that could rival any made in India or any other part of the world.
Under the guidance of the Film Team that handled the production of Bombay Velvet, hundreds of Lankans worked nearly ten months to complete the set located on five acres of land in the dry semi-arid conditions within the Ranminitenna Tele Park in Tissamaharama to create a bustling, 
living, breathing city of Bombay of that era.
“Nearly 85 per cent of Bombay Velvet was filmed in Sri Lanka. We recreated the magic of Bombay right here. This is an immense achievement,” said veteran actor Ravindra Randeniya, one of the four members of the Film Team which also includes acclaimed Sri Lankan Art Director Errol Kelly.
Bombay Velvet is the crowning glory for the company set up nearly seven years ago. “The magnitude of the work that Sri Lankans put into creating the city of Bombay of a bygone era can be seen by movie-goers. The city has been replicated so well that it is hard to imagine it is located in a remote area of Sri Lanka,” Mr. Randeniya said.
The film’s director Anurag Kashyap who had been on the lookout for the ideal location to shoot Bombay Velvet had been impressed by the sets that were created by the Film Team for Deepa Mehta’s Midnight s Children which was partly filmed in Sri Lanka.
“For Midnight’s Children, we had to recreate India at the time of Independence in 1947. The film begins with the partition which led to the birth of Pakistan that year and ends with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971,” Mr. Randeniya said.
The Film Team celebrates: (from left) Errol Kelly, Ravindra Randeniya, Ainsley de Silva and Gopi Dharmaratnam
The Indian film team of Bombay Velvet had sent out reconnaissance teams to different areas in their country to find a location where the city of Bombay of the Sixties could be recreated. The Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad had been selected as a possible location but before things were finalized, the work done by the Film Team on Midnight’s Children had been impressive enough for Director Anurag to want to take a look here.
“We held lengthy discussions as there were so many matters to take care of. The professionalism and vast experience of the Film Team’s Art Director Errol Kelly was one of the deciding factors for Anurag to choose Sri Lanka,” Mr. Randeniya said.
It took nearly ten months and hundreds of Sri Lankans along with experts from the Indian film team to put up the impressive structure at Ranminitenna. Nearly 2,000 vintage cars were hired from local owners while trams too were produced here to replicate the city of Bombay. In addition to shooting on set, scenes were also filmed in Colombo, Galle and on the outskirts of Yala.
The details of the film’s production were kept tightly under wraps with the local team members having to sign non-disclosure agreements, said Ainsley de Silva of the Film
Bollywood glamour: Leading stars Anushka Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor
Team.” They were very particular that we keep details of the film secret till they gave the green light. Now with the film’s release at hand, we can reveal that Sri Lanka is the main location for the shooting of this film and we are justifiably proud of our achievements,” Mr. de Silva said.
The Film Team hopes that with the release of Bombay Velvet, the demand to use Sri Lanka as a film location will grow.
“The film generated around Rs.650 million for the country. Promoting Sri Lanka as the location for film production is good for our economy,” said Gopi Dharmaratnam, a Director of the Film Team.
In the meantime, visitors to the Ranminitenna tele park can see for themselves the film set. A walk through the Bombay Velvet night club and a stroll down the streets of this city of a bygone era is within everyone’s reach.