Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra shot Mirzya near Indian borders with Pakistan, China

Mumbai: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has proven himself as one of the best directors in the industry with his style of direction in critically acclaimed films such as ‘Rang De Basanti’ and ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’. The filmmaker is striving to enhance his reputation with his upcoming film ‘Mirzya’.

Mehra has paid extreme attention to the choice of locations for the film, based on Punjab’s popular 'Mirza Sahiban', in order to translate the story effectively on the big screen. The filmmaker was keen on shooting at locations where Bollywood had not shot before, so he selected virgin locations in the barren stretch across Ladakh and Rajasthan and shot in areas such as Nubara valley and Pahelgaum lake in Ladakh, Shiv Niwas Palace and Fatehgarh Palace in Udaipur, Thulia and Ranau in Jaisalmer. All these locations were chosen after a proper recce by the team.

Thulia was, however, just 17 kilometers away from the India-Pakistan border and the team took all the requisite permissions from the BSF and IB and even traveled 90 kilometers every day to arrive at the shooting location.

About his choice of locations, Mehra said, "Right from the story of the legend of 'Mirza Sahiban', the folklore, I wanted to picturize this in my imaginative world, for which we traveled to Ladakh and went to the remote corners, which is beyond Pangong Tso lake and Nyoma. There I found these absolute virgin locations which were on the border of China, so the army helped us a lot.”

"Similarly, when we were filming the climax of the present day story in Rajasthan, it took us to the remote desert areas which are beyond Jaisalmer, Phulia and on the border areas of Barmer. Once again, the local tourism board and the army were very helpful because these are restricted areas for any normal person to go."

‘Mirzya’ starring Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher is gearing up for release on October 7.