The much-awaited film Gehraiyaan is finally out on Amazon Prime and has met with a favourable response. While some sections of the moviegoers had trouble with the film’s mature theme and niche appeal, the rest of the viewers praised the film’s writing, performances and look. The stunning locations have been unanimously appreciated. One of the places shown in the film which has particularly stood out is what is presented as Tia’s (Ananya Panday) sprawling Alibaug farmhouse, located by the sea. The property is beautiful and has been stunningly shot by the cinematographer.
We are sure a lot of you must have expressed this desire to visit this place with your friends or family. If that’s the case, you’ll be happy to know that this beautiful location is actually a boutique hotel and yes, you can very well book your stay and get a chance to spend your time here. It is named Ahilya By The Sea and is not in Alibaug but in Goa, in the Nerul area. It is situated less than 10 kms away from the famous Aguada Fort and Calangute, in North Goa. From the Dabolim airport, it is located around 35 kms away.
When contacted, Jasvinder Arora, reservation manager of Ahilya By The Sea told Bollywood Hungama how the team of the film locked their hotel for the shoot, “Mr Apoorva Mehta (producer, Dharma Productions) had already stayed with us before twice or thrice. They knew about our place. The line producers were also aware of Ahilya By The Sea.” She also added that the film’s unit shot for the film for approximately a month, from September to October 2020. “The whole place was booked by the producers,” said Jasvinder Arora.
Though she wasn’t present when the shoot was taking place, she shared that the staff on the ground had great things to say about the film’s unit, including the actors. She stated, “They were very good guests. Deepika Padukone had to fly to Mumbai and return to Goa multiple times due to the Sushant Singh Rajput case. However, they all were quite friendly and cordial.”
She also said, “Deepika Padukone didn’t stay with us. She stayed at the Taj. Some of the crew members, however, were put up at Ahilya By The Sea.” Even director Shakun Batra resided in this place.
The shoot took place when the Coronavirus-induced restrictions had just eased. Hence, Gehraiyaan was one of the first films to go on floors in the pandemic era. Jasvinder revealed, “That was the peak Covid time. Therefore, we had taken care of the sanitization, RT-PCR tests etc. It was a period when the vaccination had not yet started. Hence, all the safety protocols were strictly in place.” There were reports that director Shakun Batra was scheduled to shoot the film in March 2020 in Sri Lanka. However, due to the imposition of lockdown, the setting was changed to Goa.
Interestingly, Gehraiyaan is not the first film to be shot at Ahilya By The Sea. Jasvinder confessed that a Malayalam flick, Manasuku Nachindi (2017), was also shot in their stunning property. It starred Sundeep Kishan, Amyra Dastur and Tridha Choudhary.
Sharing further information about Ahilya By The Sea, Jasvinder Arora said, “This place was started in 2015. Our owners – the Holkars of Indore – belong to the royal blood. We have one
more property, called Ahilya Fort, in Maheshwar, near Indore, in Madhya Pradesh.” She continued, “Ahilya By The Sea was a house which was converted into a boutique hotel. There are a total of 9 rooms on our property.”
The reviews for this place are quite positive and it has already featured on some prominent travel websites and magazines. “Mr Apoorva Mehta recently stayed with us again. A lot of non-film celebrities too have spent their time here.”
Gehraiyaan also stars Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dhairya Karwa. After an introduction of the characters in the film, the story moves to Alibaug where Tia, her cousin Alisha (Deepika Padukone), Tia’s boyfriend Zain (Siddhant Chaturvedi) and Alisha’s boyfriend Karan (Dhairya Kawra) meet for a weekend break. Here, Alisha and Zain get attracted to each other, resulting in complexities in the lives of the four.