Film music sends Central Railways cash registers ringing

The music launch of filmmaker Farah Khan’s home production Tees Maar Khan had all the usual trappings of a typical Bollywood bash — big stars, live performances, foot-tapping music, and the media in full attendance.

Only the choice of venue was unique — the launch was held on a running train.

“The idea was to do something unusual, and since the film is about a train heist, we thought it would be interesting to book a real train for the event,” Khan said.

She admitted that though the launch was an expensive event, it was money well-spent. “It was worth it, as all of us had a lot of fun,” Khan added. Actor Akshay Kumar, who plays the title role in the film, claimed that he hadn’t travelled by train for  a long time.

“It’s been more than 20 years since I last travelled by train. The only time I get to be on a train these days is when I am shooting on board one,” he added.

Central Railway, which had lent the entire five-coach ‘film special’ train, was smiling.

“The Central Railway earned revenue of about Rs7 lakh from the event. In fact, film shoots and lending the railways’ rolling stock (coaches, trains and engines) have been a major source of revenue for the CR,” SC Mudgerikar, CR’s chief spokesperson said. “The train left Mumbai CST for Lonavla and returned to Mumbai,” he added.

Along the way, there were live performances after the launch of the film’s music. On reaching the destination, a musical band greeted the group. The same train later brought back all the guests to Mumbai.

Mudgerikar said CR has earned as much as Rs1.10 crore from film shoots and lending its trains and stations since April 2010. “It is the highest figure that we have ever achieved in such a short span of time,” he added.

Between 2009 and 2010, as many as 28 movies were shot on CR property, including Rajnikanth’s famous Robot, which alone helped the railways earn around Rs68 lakh. In a fight sequence in Robot, goons attack Rajnikant and Aishwarya inside a local train.

The sequence, shot both on Central and Southern Railway, shows the compartment being damaged.