Wai, Maharashtra shooting locations: A look at the village where Bollywood movies are shot

Wai, a small village in Maharashtra, is located at a distance of 90kms away from Pune. Interestingly, Wai becomes a pit spot for tourists who visit hill stations like Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. A slew of Bollywood and Marathi movies have been filmed in Maharashtra's Wai. Known for its scenic beauty and its famous temple, here's a quick peek at the movies shot in Wai.

Movies shot in Wai Maharashtra

A bunch of movies like Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hain, Gangaajal, Omkara, Dabangg 1, Dabangg 2, and many others have been filmed in Wai. The song titled Hudd Hudd Dabangg by Sajid-Wajid has been shot near the famous temple in Wai.

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Some sequences in films like Ishqiya, Singham, Bol Bachchan, Zila Ghaziabad are also shot in Maharashtra's Wai. Many scenes from Rohit Shetty's directorial Chennai Express have also been filmed there. In a video that surfaced online, Rohit revealed that the team would stay in Panchgani and would then come down to Wai to shoot the movie. Deepika and Shah Rukh Khan's confrontation scene in Chennai Express was also filmed there. 

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Wai village became all the more famous when the shooting of the film Swades took place in 2004. As per a report by Hindustan Times, line producer Surendra Sathe stated that permissions are easier to come by in Wai as the municipality, police, even local farmers realise how the shoot is offering people with much-needed employment. The report further added that the team of the film Swades stayed back in the village for seven months to shoot the song, Yeh Tara Woh Tara. Surendra worked with the team on films like Swades, Omkara and Taare Zameen Par. The famous panchayat scene in Swades was also filmed in Wai. 

Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha's song Mat Maari, from R Rajkumar, is shot in Wai. A Filmfare report mentioned that the shooting was done at Wai's vegetable market wherein the vendors had set up their stalls. More so, junior artistes were milling around pretending to be everyday people doing their Sunday shopping, added the report. The duo was accompanied by their team and Prabhudeva. Meanwhile, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Ajay Devgn's scene in Omkara wherein the duo hugs each other in the farm was shot in the village too.

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Filming locations in Wai 

There are many temples built in Wai where tourists come for local photoshoots. The four famous temples near Brahmanshahi ghat are Chakreshwar, Chimneshwar, Kaunteshwar/Harihareshwar and Kaleshwar. While Govardhan Sanstha ghat has Krishna Mandir, there are Vitthal and Ganpati temples too. 

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(Source: All stills from YouTube)