Hollywood. It’s both the name of a neighbourhood in central Los Angeles and a shorthand reference to America’s gigantic film industry. But this article isn’t about Hollywood. It is about its counterpart half a world away, the one film industry that churns out more films than mighty Hollywood: Bollywood!

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Bollywood tourism increasingly popular

Everyone knows that Hollywood is a popular tourist destination, from the iconic giant letters to the stars of famous artists and characters on the Walk of Fame. Hollywood tourism brings in millions each year. Yet Bollywood tourism is becoming increasingly popular. People are eager to visit the locations where popular Indian films are set and in Mumbai itself, various tours are offered.
Bollywood has also led to increased popularity of various locations in India. For example, the immensely popular film Dil Chahta Hai (2001) led to a surge of tourism to Goa. Similarly, Pangong Lake in Ladakh exploded in popularity after the release of 3 Idiots (2009). Other films features cities around the world, encouraging viewers to visit these places for themselves.
Mumbai Film City Tours

However, most of Bollywood tourism takes place in Mumbai, the heart of Bollywood. One popular tour is a guided bus tour of Mumbai’s Film City. Film City was established in 1978 as a means to stimulate the growth of India’s burgeoning film industry. Located in Goregaon in western Mumbai, the area is relatively easily accessible. However, it is generally not open for direct access. The next best alternative is taking the guided bus tour, which takes about two hours and runs by most of Film City’s sprawling interior. The tour goes into great detail about the history of Bollywood and is a nice way to relax as you watch the sceneries pass you by.

To see a live shooting of a film, you can take a so-called Live Tour Show, which focuses specifically on showing visitors the nuances of acting and the large amount of work involved with shooting a film. You’ll get to have a peek behind the scenes and sometimes you can even meet the actors themselves and have your picture taken with them. It can occur that no films are being shot at the time of your tour, so planning ahead is important.

There are a host of other tours that offer a variety of fun activities, such as dance workshops, visits to sound recording studios, a tour of the imposing mansions of some of the biggest Bollywood actors and a whole lot more. Suffice to say, Bollywood is every bit a tourism magnet as Hollywood, and at the rate that it is growing, it won’t be long before it overtakes its older counterpart.

Travelling to India: tickets and visas

A few things have to be kept in mind if you plan to head to India to go on a Bollywood tour yourself. Tickets generally have to be purchased in advance. Prices vary quite a bit, depending on what you’re looking for. For instance, a standard Bollywood Studio Tour costs around £28. However, a full day Bollywood tour with meals included can quickly cost over £120. It is important that you determine in advance how much luxury you want or you risk spending money for things you won’t even use or take part in.

An additional thing to keep in mind is India’s mandatory visa requirement. Applying for an Indian visa
is mandatory for virtually all foreign travellers headed to the country. Make sure you apply for one well in advance, because India has a notoriously fickle visa application system. People have reported delays in granting of visas or rejections for no clear reasons. Thankfully, applying for an Indian does not require a visit to the embassy. This can be done online by filling out the online application form. You are required to upload a passport photo as well as a scan of your passport.