RAW shot in 100 locations across India

John Abraham’s upcoming espionage thriller 'Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW)' is one of those rare Indian films that travels across the length and breadth of India. Set in the tumultuous period of 1971, the film is based on true events that impact the future of three countries — India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. To retain the authenticity of a region, writer-director Robbie Grewal made sure to shoot in real locations of Mumbai, Gujarat, Kashmir, parts of North India and also, Nepal within a well-planned 46-day schedule.The crew did an extensive recce and research to recreate India and Pakistan of the bygone era of the 1970s.

Skipped Punjab location for Gujarat to recreate Pakistan in India
A major chunk of the film has been shot in remote locations across Gujarat. Robbie explains, “Authenticity and accuracy is what we focussed on while scouting and filming it on real locations.We shot in places like Vansda, Rajpipla, and the unique Moti Bhamri village that looks preserved in time. Places like Dharmaj, old Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Palitana, Rajkot and Gondol actually look like Muslim residential areas and busy towns of the past. We avoided typical Gujarat locations because our aim was to be true to our story’s requirements, which is about a spy working across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the seventies. I had to create Pakistan in India, and Junagadh in Gujarat served as the perfect location for that. It has no malls, and is almost a virgin city in terms of film shoots. Interestingly in the past, there was a court case that argued that Junagadh is technically a part of Pakistan.”

Most of the film’s action takes place in Pakistan. Since accessing any location there is impossible, Robbie had to improvise and plan ahead. “Most recent Indian series have been filmed in a place called Malerkotla in Punjab to capture Pakistan, so they do end up looking similar. For some bizarre reason, no one has explored these locations in Gujarat yet. So we built a set here and shot the film,” he reveals, adding, “Kudos to our production team that worked really hard to find such suitable locations.”
‘In Kashmir, we employed locals to be a part of the film’s shoot’
Since John essays the role of a RAW agent, he is seen traversing the length and breadth of the Indian sub-continent. So it also became essential to film in Nepal and Kashmir, as a crucial portion of the story is set there. Robbie informs, “We shot in Pokhara in Nepal, an old fashioned, quaint town which is about 5-hours drive from Kathmandu, the capital city. Not just that, the locations were brilliant and the food was absolutely fabulous.”

Talking about his fantastic experience of shooting in Gulmarg and Srinagar, he says, “We had a great time shooting in Kashmir. People out there are tremendously helpful. I have shot at both the locations in the past, too. I think the problem with Kashmir today is lack of work. I feel fortunate that RAW in some way contributed to it by employing the locals to be a part of the film’s shoot. At the end of it, everyone was happy.” Lastly, the film’s interior portions were shot on the sets in Mumbai.
In a day and age where special effects, visual editing and studio locations dominate filmmaking, Robbie has gone to great lengths to ensure authenticity for his espionage thriller. This has
resulted in the film offering unseen, visually intriguing locations of the great Indian outdoors.
Besides John, the film also boasts of a stellar ensemble star cast, which includes Jackie Shroff, Mouni Roy, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, Sikandar Kher and Raghubir Yadav in pivotal roles.
'Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW)', which is produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Ajay Kapoor, Vanessa Walia, and Gary Grewal, releases on April 5.