Khajuraho Dreams is perhaps first film shot in the heritage site: Director Manoj Vasudev

Debut director Manoj Vasudev is thrilled about being able to capture the Khajuraho temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district, for possibly the first time in a film. His Khajuraho Dreams, written by Sethu, is a humorous travel and friendship story, featuring Arjun Ashokan, Sharafudeen, Sreenath Bhasi, Aditi Ravi and Dhruvan.
Speaking about the film which released its first look recently, Manoj says, “These five friends are chasing some romantic tales they’ve heard and bike from Kochi to Khajuraho.So it is a story of what happens on the journey and the things that unfold when they are in the village there.”

The director reveals that getting permissions to shoot at the site proved to be extremely difficult, something he did not realise even when he travelled there for some background research on the story and to check the locations. “This site is under the archaeology department and even while we got permission with great difficulty, there were a lot of restrictions; we couldn’t do aerial shots or shoot throughout the temple complex, for example.
But Manoj is clearly excited about having been able to shoot at this millenia-old site, where he explains that the sculptures were carved over a century by generations of artisans. “Imagine, first a man started sculpting, then it was continued by his son, and the whole complex involved the work and skills of thousands of families. The site is now visited mainly by foreigners, but I feel once audiences see this film, they will definitely want to go there themselves. The skill in carving the stone sculptures are mind-blowing, with phenomenal detailing in the clothes and jewellery,” he says.
Aditi’s character is a typical modern woman, who is on an equal standing with the guys and does what they do. “She is a part of this group of friends going on a fun road trip. And while in some films, the male characters become more important as the story progresses, here she remains a main character throughout. In fact, we got her to learn to ride the bike, so that we could put the focus on her in moments when she drives through the highways and villages. This is not feminism, it is just depicted in a normalised way, because women of 2023 are like this,” says Manoj.
The film has four songs composed by Gopi Sundar. It also has actors from all the south industries and Raj Arjun from Bollywood. Cinematography is by Pradeep Nair and editing is by Lijo Paul.