What's in a name, William Shakespeare once quipped in 'Romeo & Juliet'. He would never know the business of Bollywood and the big names attached to it.

 

Miracle Cinema in Mumbai has forever meant grandeur, spectacle, and drama! But in the search for cinematic perfection, Indian filmmakers have realised over time that elaborate sets represent more than just decoration on a film set. They are essential to storytelling and film content. Production houses have spent staggering amounts of money building remarkable sets, which can depict entire palaces, construct an ancient civilisation, or even stack up against the best in Hollywood. 

 

Making a good film involves many elements. A good story, strong acting, appropriate background scoring, and sharp editing need to come together to deliver a compelling movie. But at the end of the day, the sets used in the film truly bring life to each frame. The sets are central to developing the environment, atmosphere, and vibe of each scene. As such, filmmakers spend considerable time and attention on sets as they encapsulate the essence of an era.

 

These aren't simply an immobile part of the film; they are vivid surroundings that enhance the storyline, character developments, and overall cinematic spectacle. With budgets bloating and continuous demand for better visuals, some filmmakers in Bollywood have taken set creation to spectacular levels, sometimes investing tens or hundreds of crores. 

 

Bollywood filmmakers are notorious for building intricate and expansive sets for their movies. Some movies have been featured in the news for building vast sets. Filmmakers understand the value of realistic sets and firmly believe in investing significant money in massive and realistic sets.

 

In this article, we highlighted the priciest movie sets in Bollywood and examined the differences in facilities, methodologies, cost, craftsmanship, and films that told big stories. Some of these films were historical epics, while others were mythological fantasies. The bottom line is that these productions all prove that in Bollywood, storytelling often starts with bricks, marble, and imagination, on an epic level.

What Makes Bollywood Movie Sets So Extravagant?

"Generally in India, an expensive product is considered a good product," said Jessie Paul, founder and CEO of Paul Writer, Strategic Advisor.

Immersive Storytelling

Immersive storytelling in film is all about authenticity, and detailed sets bring authenticity to cinema. Detailed sets, either to recreate a specific time and place or to create an entirely fabricated fantastical universe, help transport audience members beyond the film's screen and into the heart of the narrative. Detailed sets allow audience members to feel involved in the environment. There is a level of emotional impact when the viewer feels like they are walking next to the hero in that moment of joy, pain, or achievement in a real universe.

Detail and Historical Authenticity

When creating historical epics such as Padmaavat or Jodhaa Akbar, the set's structure needs to utilise accurate architecture, costumes, and props from that period. Historical details, such as the Mughal domes or Rajput motifs, require research and replication.

Visual Identity & Integration With Cinematography

Directors such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali think of their sets as canvases, where camera movement, lighting, and choreography come together. This requires sets to be designed to enable multi-dimensional filming, including aerial shots, wide pans, and dance choreography. A singular visual identity can create a lasting cinematic pole and brand positioning. Devdas's gold and red courtesan halls and Padmaavat's moonlit balconies are scenes that linger in viewers' minds.

Extended Production Timelines

When productions have elaborate sets, they take months and years to conceptualise, design, and erect—long production lead times equal raised labour, logistical, and rental costs.

Marketing Value

Often, big sets become talking points in marketing promotional campaigns. Behind-the-scenes footage of the set processes, interviews with the art directors, tours of the set pre-release, and more help prepare the market for the screening with anticipation.

Box Office Returns

While a serious risk is involved, visual spectacle (cinematic scale) cinema in theatres produces better returns. This is true for period dramas and most fantasy epics.

The Most Expensive Movie Sets Ever Made

Mughal-e-Azam (1960); Approximate Set cost: ₹1.5 crores (then, equivalent to ₹150+ crores today)

This list is understandably headed by Mughal-e-Azam, a film forever special for its music, dialogues, costumes and presentation. Knowing this film is a historical romantic story, and a great piece of prettiness, Most of the film was shot on studio sets with elaborate design suites inspired by Mughal mahals. I am told the studio set built to shoot the musical “Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya” took more than two years to develop and cost the filmmakers over Rs 1.5 million. The set built to create Lahore Fort’s Sheesh Mahal took more hard work and money to produce than the rest of the film, and the grand battle sequence between Akbar and Salim featured 2 thousand camels, 400 horses, and 8000 disciples.

Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013); Approximate Set cost: ₹40+ crores

The specific expense of the film set for Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) hasn't been itemised publicly. Still, a good chunk of its budget, which was estimated at ₹48 crore, accounted towards the collective sets. Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and production designer Wasiq Khan took about 2–3 months of research and design for the sets alone, to ensure local customs were embodied in their representation of Gujarati architecture and royal havelis (mansions). Approximately 90% of the film was shot on these sets, which were built at studios including Film City and Reliance Studios in Mumbai. 

 

One of the more prominent sets built for the film was the ample space of the haveli courtyard in the song "Nagada Sang Dhol," performed by Deepika Padukone while wearing a ghagra that weighed 30 kg. This one of the most expensive sets built for the film is simply an example of Bhansali's visual splendour.

Thugs of Hindostan (2018); Approximate Set cost: ₹40 crores

While the film struggled with box office numbers, it was spectacular in terms of visuals and set design. The film was made at a budget of 3 billion Rs, and most of that was spent on the visual design. According to Architecture Digest, a team of designers worked for about three years before the movie went into production. The production house did not just spend on high-quality VFX but also built two ships that weighed more than 200 tonnes, with the help of 800-1000 people!

Brahmāstra (2022); Approximate Set cost: ₹30+ crores

Ayan Mukerji's Brahmāstra was meant to kick-start India's mythology-based cinematic universe. In this film, he was visually creating temple spaces (that are futuristic), ashrams, underground lairs, weapon vaults - all designed in a way that combines Indian architecture with modern sci-fi. 

 

The studios and sets were based around Mumbai and Bulgaria, with large indoor builds for the ashram scenes of Guruji and the secret society of Brahmānsh. They hired daytime green-screen studio space and augmented reality to mix the physical locations with post-production green-screen backgrounds. Wherever you ended up falling in the opinion spectrum about the story, it was almost universally accepted that this movie was visually light years beyond its competition, and that this speaks to the enormous amount of capital explicitly invested in the fantasy design.

Padmaavat (2018); Approximate Set cost: ₹30 crores

Bhansali, a master of grandeur and intensity, outdid himself with Padmaavat, accurately portraying the fort and interiors of medieval Rajasthan.

 

The Chittorgarh Fort set, important to the narrative, was built on a massive set in Film City, Mumbai. The design team, including Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray, went to lengths to make the visuals believable by providing rich Rajasthani motifs, jharokahs, detailed jaali, and sandstone textures. The night scenes, the palace courtyards and even the war camps were all lit to help recreate an ambience of royal majesty. In many ways, the physical sets of Padmaavat functioned as characters in the film; they were both imposing and beautiful, and possessed their historical value.

Bombay Velvet (2015); Approximate Set cost: ₹30 crores

Bombay Velvet is considered Anurag Kashyap's most expensive project. The film is set in the 1960s, before Bombay became Mumbai. The film had to have a 1960s look, and the director boldly requested the whole city of Old Bombay be built on 9.5 acres of land in Colombo. The town had all the buildings, interiors, signage, and décor; everything was built from scratch. It is estimated that the sets took 11 months to build. The film had a huge budget but bombed at the box office and has been labelled a disaster.

Zero (2018); Approximate Set cost: ₹25+ crores

Although Shah Rukh Khan's Zero may not have been a box-office success, it certainly aimed high, quite literally. From recreating the streets of Meerut to building NASA-style labs, the set design aspects of Zero were incredibly ambitious and experimental.

 

The film tried to create a scaled-down world so that SRK's character Bauua, who had also been digitally shortened to look vertically challenged, could move within it. For that reason, the production was then required to adjust physical sets to accommodate, creating optical illusions, adjusting proportions, and shooting at custom angles. 

 

As if that wasn't enough, there were space centre scenes with high-end tech aesthetics as well; Zero proved that even a modern romantic drama could back a high blockbuster budget for design.

Ra.One (2011); Approximate Set Cost: ₹25 crores

An ambitious film that was a trailblazer for Indian sci-fi, Ra.One was Shah Rukh Khan’s effort to fuse VFX with Bollywood masala. The film’s futuristic setting required strong dependence on digital art and physical sets that invoked AI labs, digital game environments, and high-tech control rooms.

 

Production designer Sabu Cyril created a futuristically familiar Mumbai. The physical world consisted of LED-lit corridors, labs with motion sensors, and glass-paned high rises, leading to a prescient world. Although VFX emerged as the main character, the scale of the physical sets was invaluable in establishing the visual world.

Bajirao Mastani (2015); Approximate Set cost: ₹23 crores

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s latest grandiose period film, Bajirao Mastani, is all set in 23 colossal sets as well as Aina Mahal in Gujarat, To represent the magnificent Maratha empire of the 18th century it required that its architecture represented the scale of that era's grandeur, history and mystique nature of the Aina Mahal (Sheesh Mahal) at 12,500 sq. ft. with 20,000 designed mirrors and 13 chandeliers, built by Sujit Sriram and Saloni, and took approximately 45 days to make. Architecture Digest states that there were about 8-9 years of research to create the sets.

Devdas (2002); Approximate Set cost: ₹20 crores

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas is perhaps the best work of all three of its major stars: Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Madhuri Dixit. It is an intricate love story, and according to Filmfare, it took Bhansali nine months to realise and design the sets, which cost at least Rs 20 crore in total. 

 

The centre point? Chandramukhi's kotha, which they built on a major scale and included finer details and gold—yes, gold! The Kotha cost around ₹ 12 crores to build. The film embodied opulence across its many frames due to Bhansali's attentive obsession with design and set. To reflect the period and the cultural and emotional subtleties of the time, designer Nitin Desai put in the hard work, and it showed.

 

Kalank (2019); Approximate Set cost: ₹15 crores

Regardless of how disappointing Kalank's plot line was, the film's sets were nothing less than magical and magnificent, from the press office to the by-lanes of Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan's respective areas. Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala spent almost ₹15 crore on only the sets, which does not include the cost of all the film's VFX.

Bharat (2019); Approximate Set cost: ₹15 crores

Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Bharat features Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles. The film depicts Bharat—played by Salman Khan—throughout multiple stages of his life. Bharat is inspired by the 2014 South Korean film 'Ode To My Father' and was filmed in multiple locations plus several sets, which cost Rs 15 crore to build.

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015); Approximate Set cost: ₹13+ crores

This super-hit K-drama of 2024, Salman Khan's Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, was filmed over less than 300 days and featured lavish backgrounds to fit Khan's royal character. The film was produced on a budget of 90 crores INR, with the majority of the budget used to rent large forts and locations in Rajasthan for filming and an extravagant lighting setup. The producers reportedly spent nearly ₹13-15 crores on lighting the palatial locations.

Jodhaa Akbar (2008); Approximate Set cost: ₹12 crores

Suppose there is one film that has enchanted us, similar to Mughal-e-Azam. In that case, it is Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa Akbar with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The period film was filmed on gigantic sets constructed in Karjat. The sets built by Nitin Chandrakant Desai were so intricate that they have now been opened to tourists!

Bollywood's Most Expensive Songs

Not just film sets, but songs have witnessed opulence that made headlines. With elaborate sets, designer outfits, international locations, large dance troops, and cutting-edge visual effects, these high-budget songs deserve to be considered cinematic experiences in their own right. From romantic ballads in exotic locations to high-octane music dance sequences, punctuated by all the pyrotechnics and glamour money can buy, here are the most expensive Bollywood songs that show how music, visuals, and money come together to make cinematic history.

Zinda Banda from Jawan (2023) - ₹15 crores

The song Zinda Banda from the Shah Rukh Khan film Jawan cost ₹15 crores. The lavish sequence, which had 1,000 background dancers, was a magical visual. The record budget and high-energy choreography helped increase its success, making it one of the most memorable moments in the film.

Ghoomar from Padmaavat (2018) - ₹12 crores

The Ghoomar song from Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh's movie Padmaavat was highly acclaimed. The song's makers spent almost ₹12 crore to produce it, making it one of the most expensive songs in Bollywood history. The choreography of Ghoomar was sumptuous, and the song's grandeur also contributed to its huge success and popularity.

 

Ram Chahe Leela from Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram Leela (2013) - ₹6 crores

Priyanka Chopra was a part of an item number in Deepika Padukone’s Ram Leela called Ram Chahe Leela. The song was a sensational success after the filmmakers paid over Rs 6 crore to shoot it. It featured a lavish set and some of the most arresting choreography in the film!

Party All Night from Boss (2013) - ₹6 crores

This dance number received very good to excellent reactions. The song featured Sonakshi Sinha and roughly 600 international models. The producers also spent about Rs 6 crore, which helped with the lavishness and energy display and remains the best aspect of the film.

Tu Meri Main Tera Namaste England - ₹5.5 crores

The song is an integral part of the film, in which Arjun and Parineeti’s characters travel from Punjab to London. The song was shot on a whopping budget of ₹5.5 crore, and the lead pair travelled to exotic foreign locations such as Bangladesh, Brussels, France, Paris, and London, among many others. In total, the song was shot in 18 to 20 locations.

Malang from Dhoom 3 (2013) - ₹5 crores

The song, featuring Katrina Kaif and Aamir Khan, had a production budget of about ₹5 crore, with 200 international gymnasts adding to the large scale. It was still high-energy with lots of density, which made it memorable for all who watched Dhoom.

Tha Kar Ke from Golmala Returns (2007) - ₹3.5 crores

This song had about 1000 background dancers and 180 stuntmen, including all the stars. Director Rohit Shetty has shown seven of the top 10 most expensive bikes in this song, including a10 10-day shoot. 1000 background dancers and 180 stuntmen worked in the song. Shetty also used 10 super expensive sports bikes in the song, which stretched the budget of the song to ₹3.5 crore, which took 10 days to shoot.

Chammak Challo from Ra.One - ₹3 crores

The song featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor was produced for ₹3 crores! It was sung by a Hollywood artist, Akon, and was quite a hit. Along with its catchy music, the visuals that accompanied the song helped contribute to it being one of the featured songs in the movie!

Saturday Saturday from Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014) - ₹3 crores

The club song was shot on an extravagant, futuristic set at Film City in Mumbai. The high expenditure was due to the lavish set and the song's popularity. Producer Karan Johar spent ₹3 crore on this song, making it one of the most expensive songs in Bollywood.

Azeem-O-Shah Shahenshah from Jodhaa Akbar (2008) - ₹2.5 crores

This period song, featuring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai, cost ₹2.5 crores to produce. It was a large-scale production with 400 dancers and 2,000 supporting artists. With its extravagant set and choreography, it was one of the most visually realistic and impressive songs in Bollywood history.

The Takeaway

In a time when visuals are competing with streaming dynamic content of high-resolution images, Bollywood's tendency to invest in extravagant sets isn’t simply a nostalgic wink but rather one of importance. These extravagant sets are no longer simply eye candy; they now form part of cinema's language, supporting immersion, creating worlds, and helping audience engagement.

 

The most expensive movie sets in Bollywood are not just a numbers game. They express creativity at scale and detail, and they believe that cinema, at its highest, is as much a visual experience as an emotional one.

 

As the industry around India's film business constantly transforms, one common theme remains no less than clear: 'grand sells'. And as long as directors continue to dream of the enormous, Bollywood will keep creating worlds that defy time, space, and gravity, one set at a time.