Gujarat has a diversity of landscapes ranging from 1666 km long coastline to the Sahiyadhri, Vindhya and Aravalli Hills, from the White desert of kutch to the Narmada, Tapi, Mahi and Sabarmati Rivers.
The State has a long history of wealth and prosperity which has endowed Gujarat with majestic forts, magnificent palaces, exquisitely carved temples, and imposing historical monuments.
Because of its geographical and historical attractions, Gujarat has been used for many location shoots from Bollywood movies like Refugee and Border that had sequences along the Rann of Kutch to Hindu epic TV serials filmed at Umergaon and Halol.
Here, we look at a few top locations for producers of feature films, documentaries, TV programs or ad films.

GONDAL
In one of the most dramatic moments of Bollywood blockbuster Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Ajay Devgan pulls Aishwarya Rai down a flight of carpeted steps, disturbing an antique wooden table covered with brass artifacts on the way to the entrance archway of a heritage house.
This house in the movie was the orchard Palace of the erstwhile Maharajas of Gondal which has been converted by its owners into a heritage hotel.
Gondal has been the location for feature films, fashion shoots, TV series and Gujarati films.
The main USP of this town is the sheer variety of heritage locations it offers for a variety of shoots. The Darbargadh or old palace complex, with its medieval walls and 1740s Naulakha Palace, is ideal for period films and Indian heritage fashion shoots. The property is a festival of stone carvings with ornate balconies, richly carved facades and courtyards. The interiors house a superb collection of antique textiles, brassware, silverware and French furniture.
The Riverside Palace is a colonial-period mansion with European architecture, huge and high-ceilinged rooms featuring four-poster beds, old dressers and other period furniture, and lawns. The Orchard Palace is a typically British guesthouse in a large estate housing superb themed interiors to go with both Indian and European scripts. The erstwhile princely family has a huge fleet of vintage and classic cars besides horse drawn carriages and rail saloons.
Besides these, there are many Venetian-Gothic buildings in the town.Lakes, rolling grasslands, and riverside location are an added bonus for a shoot in Gondal.
The Riverside Palace and Orchard Palace of Gondal are both heritage hotels. They offer 18 rooms in all of an internationally acceptable standard. Economical accommodations are available at guesthouses in the town for the unit workers. For pictures, see www.gondalpalaces.com

MANDVI
Mandvi has been the location for great Bollywood blockbusters like Lagaan and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. This is one of the destinations where every prospect pleases for those looking for location shoots – one of the most beautiful beaches in India. a private beachside estate of about 450 acres with its own beach, a grand palace, and green fields. The Vijay Vilas Palace offers much potential for a variety of shoots with its cupolas, umbrella-domes and carved balconies.
The town has a down-building yard, many old buildings and bustling bazaars, while nearby are picturesque villages.
The Beach at Mandi Palace offers upmarket accommodation while for the unit workers there is basic accommodation facility in the palace estate. For details, see www.mandibeach.com
Additional accommodation is available at hotels and guesthouses in the Mandvi town, while Gujarat Tourism offers cabins and tents on the beachside.
Mandi is about one hour each from Bhuj and Kandla Airports, and about one hour from Gandhidham Railway Station.

LITTLE RANN OF KUTCH
The desert landscape of the Rann of Kutch has made it an extremely popular destination for advertisement films. This unique landscape has been the location for the TV advertisements of Tata Safari, Hero Honda and MRF Tyres among others. The fashion shoots of Jade Blue’s shirts and Deepkala sarees for their editorial advertisements and hoardings also happened in the Little Rann of Kutch.
Besides the white desert and salt pans, the bird-rich lakes and colourful villages in the area, make good locations for shoots. The Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutch has also featured in the documentaries of BBC, National Geographic, Partridge Films, etc for its variety of wildlife.
Little Rann of Kutch is around 180 km from Ahmedabad. Accommodation is available at Rann Riders resort (www.desertcoursers.net) in Dasada Taluka along the Little Rann of Kutch.Accommodations is also available in Dhrangadra town.

RAJPIPLA
From 1971, Rajpipla has been an extremely popular location for Gujarati film shoots. To the extent, that this town has become known as Gollywood.
In recent years, Rajpipla has become equally well-known as a location for Bhojpuri movies. The ‘Ab to Banya Sajanya Hamra’featuring Saira Banu and the first ever cross border Bhojpuri film Saiyyan Chitchor are among those filmed at Rajpipla.Many TV programs and serials are being filmed in Rajpipla even at the time of this brochure going in for printing.
Once a large princely state, Rajpipla is a town full of Palaces and other grand buildings. The Rajwant Palace Resort in the Vijay Palace of Rajpipla is the main attraction for most shoots. Built in 1915, it has seven acres of gardens, a fine facade, antique furnished interiors, a swimming pool and a view of banana plantations and Karjan river.
The other impressive palatial building of Rajpipla are the Vadia Palace called Gujarat’s Taj Mahal because of its magnificent architecture ,the Natvar Nivas which has beautiful murals and other works of art inside, and many others.
Located 165 km from Vadodara in Narmada district, Rajpipla also offers the base to shoot at many scenically attractive sites on the Narmada and Karjan Rivers, the Sardar Sarovar, the Malsamot forest and waterfalls and Buddhist caves near Jagadiya.
There are rooms at Rajwant Palace Resort, and budget accommodation is available in Rajpipla town. For details see rajvantpalace.com and www.rvmm.org/por.html

BALARAM
The Balaram Palace has been the location for feature films, ad film and TV serial shoots. Suryavanshi starring Amitabh was filmed in Balaram, which has many attractive locations like the palace, Chitrasani river, Jessore Hill and nearby villages.
The palace is extremely popular for TV series with many shoots in progress at the time of writing.
The nearest International Airport is Ahmedabad which is around 186 km from Balaram Palace. For details see www.balarampalace.com

WADHWAN
In 2005, when Vogue did a fashion feature called ‘Lily Takes a Trip’, which had supermodel Lily Cole touring India. it featured the palaces of Wadhwan and Morvi in Gondal. In one of the most famous photographs of the feature, Lily Cole is shown on a spiral staircase of the Rajmahal Palace Hotel of Wadhwan with a dress trailing down 26ft.
Wadhwan’s Rajmahal Palace is a real beauty with a fine facade and 14-acre grounds. The Durbahall here is highpoint of the palace with gilded ceilings, beautiful murals, rich velvet tapestries, crystal, huge chandeliers and antique furniture. The centre piece is columned courtyard with a marble pleasure pool.
Located around 100km from Ahmedabad in Surendranagar district, Other historic buildings of Wadhwan include the Darbargadh fort, the Hawa Mahal, Ranakdevi temple and stepwell.