It's not easy being a creative artiste in Mumbai. Karan Johar is the latest filmmaker to realise the gagging feeling in the city. Many prominent filmmakers are now seriously thinking of shifting their headquarters to another city.

A leading producer-director is now planning to shoot his 'Mumbai' film completely away from the city. He says, "That way, it's a win-win situations. We get all the stars and crew to focus completely on our project and we avoid any trouble."

Me first!
But the first director to actually move out of Mumbai would be Sudhir Mishra. In what could be considered a first for a Bollywood filmmaker, he has decided to shift base from Mumbai to Delhi. He has actually taken the decision to move away from the headquarters of Hindi movie-making and be active from another city.

Why not?
Reasons the avant-garde director, "Why not? Is it not possible to make films out of Delhi? I find myself the atmosphere in Mumbai getting progressively non-conducive to concentrated creativity. I feel isolated in Mumbai. Everyone in the industry either belongs to either a film family or an empire.

You're either this one's grandson or that one's grandfather. I feel vulnerable and anonymous. All my friends and relatives are in North India, specially Delhi. I'd be in a much more comfortable frame of mind in Delhi. "

Sudhir says he has as many as six homes in Delhi to live in. "Although I've a fabulous home on Madh Island in Mumbai, I find myself getting lonely here. I have no wife or children. I want to go back to my roots. I want my family and friends to take over my life, look after my home and finances while I make movies."

The first of Mishra's post-relocation films would be a Delhi-based thriller. "I want to shoot a thriller in the Delhi winter. I want the mist and the fog that covers North India during winter time. I want those visuals of only car headlights being visible in the fog. You can't get that in Mumbai. But it's not as if I'm giving up on the city. I'll spend a part of the year in this city. I love it too much to abandon it."

Shot in Delhi
Imtiaz Ali shot Love Aaj Kal in Delhi
Rensil d'Silva shot Kurbaan in Delhi.