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The fairy-tale city recreates the real and the reality goes surreal at times. A filmy drift through the larger-than-life vignettes of Ramoji Film City that humbles Hollywood with its sheer splendour!

Driving past a cowboy street, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of an African jungle. A few meters away we came across a European city and then, we had a brief stopover at a north Indian village nearby.

Once in Ramoji Film City, the World’s largest film studio complex in a sprawling 1600 acres near Hyderabad, India, you can boast of becoming a globe-trotter at once. It’s a dream factory for the film buffs and a fantasy world for tourists. We stared at the magnificent film sets unable to distinguish between the real and the fake.

Film city’s bus takes tourists from the main gate to the bus stand, located near two amusement parks: Fundusthan and Eureka. After the flamboyant reception in front of Eureka at 10 in the morning, buses painted in flashy red take the visitors inside the film city.

' ...takes you to the world of great cities, gorgeous gardens and parks and the amazing films sets... 'This journey takes you to the world of great cities, gorgeous gardens and parks and the amazing films sets. Guides would accompany us and explain about the significance of each site.

There are many restaurants ready with delicacies of all variety- from the Continental to the Indian dishes.

Famous gardens across the world are recreated here. Greek, Japanese, Chinese and European gardens are a few among the many sporting their unique styles.

Adjacent to the boulevard near the garden, there is a Sun fountain with a sculpture of Lord Soorya (Sun) riding in his seven horse chariot.

A Tibetan monk welcomed us to the famous Ajantha- Ellora caves. Fully made of plaster of paris, this replica of the famous caves excels the original. Sometimes you can see the pillars collapsing right in front of you and the sculptures inside the caves would move around. Just a trick made possible by state-of-the-art special effects. Later we came to know that, the monk also had been a dupe.

We stopped in front of a Government office and entered in the building only to realise that it was a hospital, finding a corridor to the left, we decided to go out. But we came out of a mosque! Don’t get surprised if you get into a railway station and see an Airport inside. These are some usual miracles here in this realm of replicas.

Cinema Paradiso

Switzerland, Tokyo, Africa ......you name the place, they have it here. There is no tinge of exaggeration as this vast studio complex boasts more than 500 various locations.

' Film city humbled Hollywood in size and earned a place in book of Guinness World Records as the biggest film studio complex in the world. 'The Film set creation unit of the Film City measures 3 lakh square feet and employs more than thousand experts who are able to reproduce any place or any period in history.

Twenty international and forty Indian movies can be produced here at a time.

Film city humbled Hollywood in size and earned a place in book of Guinness World Records as the biggest film studio complex in the world. Crocodile-2, Centipede, Quick sand, Beeper and Nightfall are some of the Hollywood movies produced in Film city.

There are different sections for costumes and art direction. Latest movie cameras, lighting units, cranes, and pre and post production facilities of international standards make of film city proud.

Come with a story, return with a movie that’s the motto of this Cinema paradiso located 25 km away from Hyderabad.

Besides guaranteeing all the necessary services and facilities for film production, Film city presents wide range options for organising theme based parties, family packages, and corporate conferences.

Scenic film locations, glamorous gardens, attractive avenues coupled with luxury lodging facilities make this magic land a favourite haunt of honeymooners too.

Leg Garden

A film shoot was progressing when we reached Leg Garden. Young couples were having their choicest moments; children were enjoying their day out in the garden set in the sprawling meadows. The prime attraction of this garden is the sculpture of a man with only his legs and parts above the chest seen above the ground.

Want to get a full picture of this dream world? Come to Hawa Mahal. This is a beautiful edifice built on a grassy mound. From the balcony of this Mughal style structure, one can enjoy a wide angle shot of gorgeous gardens, picturesque landscapes and fabulous film sets. It’s like visiting the bizarre places you have heard only in fairy-tales and watched in wildest dreams.

Let’s move to Eureka and Fundusthan- the theme parks compete with any theme parks in the world.

Through the big mouth of Dadajin, a goblin in the Chinese folklores, we entered into the fantasy world of Fundustan. Valley of flowers called corolla, Dadajin’s Arch (video game parlour), Timberland, a train restaurant named Daily Express are a few among the miracles on offer at this theme park.

Baffled and dazed as if awakened from a dream, we returned from the Film City. It took a few hours for us to come to terms with the real world outside.

Was it a dream, was it real? Don’t wait for answers. Just make a visit to the Ramoji’s and get the “real” picture!

© travelbird