Delhi’s secret hang-outs featured in Bollywood films

Delhi still has secrets to offer if you seek. Many of these hidden jewels have found their way to the big screen, and have overnight turned into must-see places.
Any Delhiite who’s seen PK, can be put into one of two categories. Category one has people who, for the first time, discovered that a baoli (what’s that?!) existed near Connaught Place, and the second set has those who knew exactly what it was and were found cribbing about losing another Delhi secret to Bollywood.This is not the first time when a relatively unknown spot in the city has overnight turned into the ‘place-to-be’ after Bollywood decided to put its stamp on it. DT lists some such transformations – from hidden to the hottest – in the list of hang-out places for filmi Delhiites.
READ: PK: Should we support or boycott the film?
PK
This hidden wonder had a Wikipedia page and tourist reviews from all over the world much before the ‘alien’ Aamir Khan made it his home. PK is, however, not Baoli’s Bollywood debut. It has in the past hosted Abhishek Bachchan and Preity Zinta in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and has also appeared in many music videos, the last being AR Rahman’s Laadli. But the number of visitors, according to the locals here, has gone up greatly since PK released. Sanjay, the guard at Baoli, in a rather miserable state, told us, “Hum tohhairan hi ho gayehainitnibheeddekhke. Har type ke log aatehainaurhumeinunhesaare time hataterehnapadta hai. Closing time 5pm hai aur hum ekghantetak logon ko bhagaaterehtehain.” At walking distance from Janpath, the place is now a profile picture-worthy place for its visitors, and the initially-hidden Hailey Lane now has a dedicated auto stand and a ‘PK momos’ point.

Hauz Khas Fort
Before Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri decided to down desi daaru at the then-undiscovered Hauz Khas fort, it was the frequent haunt of south campus students, architecture loving history buffs and of course, couples looking for a cheap making out spot. The venue was then lined with posh houses and kachchimittikeghar, but all of that changed once our nightlife experts and Ranbir-lovers found their way to the fort. After the movie, guards had to be appointed to go around smelling cold drink bottles for alcohol content, and to make sure students didn’t have their Rockstar bucket-list moment here. Visitors are now often seen struggling to find their way around the ruins without coming in the frame of a zillion selfies and, on weekend mornings, pre-wedding photo shoots.

Paharganj
Paharganj has always existed on the Delhi map as a marketplace for cheap leather and silver products, a firang backpacker’s heaven and for many other unsaid, ‘shady’ things. But it made it to the list of ‘places you should visit if you want to be a true Delhiite’ only after one of Bollywood’s cooler directors, Anurag Kashyap, took it to the big screen in his own edgy way in Dev.D. Years later, Paharganj is still living up to its shady reputation but with a bigger fan following, which consists of students looking for cheapdaaruoutings, Delhi-discovery enthusiasts ticking off another destination on their list and scared-but-hoping-to-look-cool visitors trying to figure out the hype behind it all.

Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah
The Imtiaz Ali-Ranbir Kapoor duo did a lot of damage to the ‘secret Delhi places scene’ during their Rockstar days in 2011, the consequences of which are still being faced by those Delhiites who claim to have discovered these places first. After the film, many college students started making their way to Nizamuddin Dargah, in groups, of course (because, hello! it’s so unsafe!), for the special Thursday and Friday evening qawwali, with the hopes of discovering their inner rockstar here. The dargah has also found a permanent place in the itineraries of the many heritage tours being organised in the city every weekend and in the list of Bollywood hopefuls coming to seek blessings before their next film’s release.

Honorary mention: India Gate after Rang De Basanti
A passing shot of India Gate has always been the easiest way of registering ‘ab hum dilli mein hain’ in any Bollywood movie since forever. But it was one film that managed to change the monument’s reputation from being a tourist destination and Sunday family outing spot, to a symbol of protest and youth awakening. If Aamir Khan and co. can walk on Rajpath with candles in hand, so can Delhi. This branding, which started with protests for Jessica Lall in 2006, is here to stay, and we’re sure we’ll find protest-enthusiasts gathering at India Gate anytime anything goes wrong in the world. The only complaining party, we think, is Jantar Mantar, which lost out on the ‘coolest protest spot’ tag after this movie, and has permanent protesters as its inhabitants.
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