We shot Anamika where even J.P. Dutta was declined permission" - Ananth Mahadevan

[Priyank]

Known for his love for the desert state, J.P. Dutta in his two decade old career has shot many a spectacle in Rajasthan. However Ananth Mahadevan claims that he has been able to shoot his Anamika - The Untold Story at numerous virgin locales in Rajasthan where even J.P. Dutta was declined permission.

"All thanks to my producer Bhanwar Lal Sharma who comes with a huge clout in the region, we were able to get permission quite easily", informs Ananth Mahadevan who is leaving no stones unturned to ensure that his suspense thriller gets the right mileage.

"Only Mr. Sharma could have afforded to take the film to places where I can not remember any other Hindi film going before", he continues, "For the kind of royal setting that Anamika has, it was pretty much mandated that we shoot in palaces and many other architecture marvels. There were quite a few places that the production team had in mind. However, we used to wonder if we would have an access to them since even J.P. Dutta had been apparently denied permission to shoot there."

Ananth agrees that earlier had London in mind but one look at the palaces and he was bowled over by the magnificence. From there on, it was the matter of film's producer pulling the right strings.

"Thankfully, my producer's prior experience as a Line Producer helped and he managed to work with the Administrators to allow us to shoot there. For them too it was kind of a payback time since Mr. Sharma had been arranging shoot in the past for Humrahi, Gadar-Ek Prem Katha, Soldier, Eklavya-The Royal Guard and many more films that had a Rajasthan setting", says Ananth.

So which are these special places where Anamika has been taken? "See, so many palaces out there in Rajasthan have been converted into international resorts. There is a Gajner resort and then there is this big dance hall in another palace that we wanted for a key sequence."

Revealing more about the lavish scale at which the film has been shot, Ananth discloses, "It's not just Rajasthan where we have taken Anamika. We have filmed a major portion in Bangkok while we have also shot some major portions at real locations in international airports, Hotel Renaissance etc. All in all we have managed to make an exciting preposition for the distributors. I can easily say that in around 5 crores budget, we have been able to achieve what any other producer may not have been able to achieve in even 10 crores."