How a massive royal palace set became the centerpiece of a 2015 blockbuster
In short: When director Sooraj Barjatya filmed his 2015 romantic drama Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, he did not just rely on location shoots. He commissioned one of the largest film sets ever constructed, a sprawling 100,000-square-foot royal palace that served as the primary stage for a story of mistaken identity and family reconciliation.
The production of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo was a monumental undertaking that spanned years of preparation. After 1,000 days of planning, filming commenced in June 2014 and concluded in September 2015. While the crew utilized real-world locations such as Rajkot, Gondal, Udaipur, and Athirapally Falls, the heart of the film was the Pritampur palace set. Designed by Nitin Chandrakant Desai, this massive structure was intended to provide a grand, immersive environment for the actors, with every element crafted to add life to the royal setting.
The film follows the story of Yuvraj Vijay Singh, a crown prince whose life is upended by a conspiracy involving his half-brother, Ajay, and a treacherous manager. When Vijay is incapacitated, a kind-hearted stage actor named Prem Raghuvanshi is recruited to impersonate him. This premise, which draws inspiration from the 1894 novel The Prisoner of Zenda and the 2012 film Masquerade, allows the narrative to explore themes of family loyalty and personal transformation. As Prem navigates the complexities of royal life, he attempts to mend fractured relationships between the prince and his half-sisters.
Upon its release in November 2015, the film achieved significant commercial success, becoming the second highest-grossing Bollywood production of that year with a worldwide gross of ₹432 crore. Despite mixed critical reception—ranging from praise for its grand scale and Salman Khan’s dual performance to criticism regarding its predictable narrative tropes—the film remains a notable example of large-scale Indian cinema. Its music, composed by Himesh Reshammiya, also set records, with T-Series securing the rights for a then-unprecedented ₹170 million.
The film’s legacy is tied to its visual ambition and its adherence to traditional family-centric storytelling. By blending the classic 'doppelganger' trope with the director’s signature focus on sibling affection and courtship, the production aimed to create a quintessential Diwali entertainer. Whether viewed as an overblown rehash or a triumph of performance, the sheer scale of its production design and its massive financial footprint underscore the immense effort required to bring such a sprawling, ornate vision to the screen.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
- Also: Wikidata — Prem Ratan Dhan Payo · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — Prem Ratan Dhan Payo · CC0
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