‘We are very possessive of our ancestral heritage’

Maharana of Udaipur — Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar, pays periodic visits to Mumbai. However, this time around, it was the special screening of the British comedy-drama The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (shot in Udaipur) that got his Highness to fly down to the city for a day. We caught up with him at his residence in Peddar Road, just a couple of hours before he was headed out…
 
Udaipur seems to be the hotspot for film shoots, particularly Hollywood ones —recent one being The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel of course. How did it come about?
Fortunately or unfortunately, I’m also one of the monuments of the city. So everyone who comes to visit Udaipur meets me too — they consider me to be an old exotic species (smiles). The reason that so many films are shot here is because it’s safe, beautiful and provides the best locales. It’s a goose that gives golden eggs. If Hollywood can attract our filmmakers/producers, why should we be shy of marketing our destinations — which they all find so fascinating! And once there is a Hollywood shoot, the economy boost in the city is tremendous — they’re all mega movies.

Could you foresee this development?
Had I not foreseen this, I wouldn’t have invested in it. You know the first promotional movie I made on Udaipur was in 1988. It was the first-of-its-kind, and I was laughed at by people back then. 

And you were certain of the success?
Oh yes. In fact, I’d say I underestimated our potential. For instance, I could see that homes are getting smaller and marriages are getting bigger. So we offered people a pretty place to tie the knot and it worked! The principle is to find the problem first and then provide the solution.  

Given that Udaipur is already a popular tourist spot, what’s next on your mind?
We want to develop Udaipur as a city of excellence, and it’s on its way there. Tourism, at one point, used to be synonymous with taking your family and kids to the forts of Chittorgarh/Udaipur and narrate to them the history of the place.  But now tourism has taken a 360 degree turn. People want to come down to hold conferences in the city — for me that is tourism too.

Is there anything forbidden from shooting?
We are very possessive of our ancestral heritage. Even if we allow a shoot in the darbar area, we remove all the personal photographs or cover them with sheets. It’s important to showcase your culture without overexposing.