Tejashree Lakras

Tekton
Tekton: Volume 11, Issue 2, December 2024
pp. 24 – 52

Tejashree Lakras is a Heritage Conservation Architect and a Bollywood fan at heart. She is currently working on the intersection of Films, Architectural Heritage, and their audiences in her PhD research under Dr. Pushkar Sohoni at IISER, Pune. She was associated as an active academician with PiCA Panvel for nearly a decade and simultaneously conducted free-lancing projects in Heritage Conservation, including ‘Kalyan Smritigandh’ – a research fellowship project sponsored by Saint Gobain, 2019-20. She is a recipient of several awards, including the ‘Best Poster Award’ (2024) and ‘Best Paper Award’ (2025) at international and national conferences respectively.
tejashree.lakras@students.iiserpune.ac.in

ABSTRACT

Using architectural heritage sites as filming locations is a longstanding practice linked to the parallel existence of the film industry and heritage discourse. It creates complex impacts on tourism, building protection, and association between heritage and its people. The moderate yet consistent recognition of the study of this phenomenon is found in the global Western context, but the available literature discusses limited practical learnings. The phenomenon regrettably remains underexplored, particularly in the Indian context. This review paper aims to illuminate the current understanding of this phenomenon internationally and rigorously within India through a comprehensive literature review. Owing to the overall scarcity of knowledge in this regard, the paper examines published and unpublished works across various discourses: Heritage Conservation, Film-Induced Tourism, Film and Architecture, and Films and Audiences. An integrated literature review framework highlights research gaps, while content analysis assesses existing
Indian policies, particularly in Rajasthan, a key filming location. The critical paradigm position aids in summarizing pertinent research and practice gaps, corroborating the pressing need for further investigation in this area.

KEY WORDS:
Architectural Heritage, ASI, Filming Location, Filming Impacts, Filming Policies and Guidelines