Want to lure your child into visiting the Meherangarh Fort in Jodhpur with you? Find him/her reluctant to spend time visiting a Fort?

Well…here’s a trick that should work.

The Spectacular Meherangarh Fort at Jodhpur has been the setting for several film shootings, Bollywood and Hollywood! But here’s the most legendary one of them all.

The Dark Knight Rises

If your child is a Batman buff or a Christopher Nolan fan, this one should interest him/her.

The scene in the Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises where Batman escapes from jail is shot right here in front of the Meherangarh Fort!

Last of the Batman Trilogy, Nolan picked this site as the most spectacular background to the gripping scene where Batman emerges out of prison.

The scene where he climbs out of prison is filmed inside a Step-well called Chand Baori in a village called Abhaneri, also in Rajasthan.

Step-wells are also very interesting places – intricately carved and deeply ornate – and a unique feature of western India, definitely worth a visit. (I’ll be writing posts about Stepwells in the Architecture and Sculpture Section soon. Follow the site or sign up for my monthly newsletter to stay posted)

The forbidding and stark landscape of the Fort and Well, is apparently just what the film maker wanted to create the desolation needed for the prison scene.

And would you believe it? These scenes were shot in summer when the temperatures were almost 50 degrees celsius!

“The locals thought we were nuts! We were out in 120-degree heat. I thought it was a great induction by fire into the whole thing. It was nice to mix it up and go to difference places. it makes it an adventure.”

Chistian Bale (Batman)

Another movie that might become the stuff of legends (given the actors involved) is the Thugs of Hindostan. 

Starring Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachan, the movie was shot extensively inside the Fort.

“The imposing and monumental Meharangarh Fort in Jodhpur. One of the largest in the country… intricate designing, impregnable structures and a fort that history states was never breached, ever. Its interiors so intricate, so artistically designed, housing within it several palaces… I wonder how they thought of the structure and how did they ever get to make something as imposing as this,” 

Amitabh Bachan

So when you visit the Meherangarh Fort, you can have your children look out for where the scenes were shot.

And adding one more movie twist here is everyone’s favourite – Shahrukh Khan!

Apparently he was bestowed with the Honorary Membership of the Jodhpur Tour Guides Association after he played the role of a Tour Guide in the Movie When Harry Met Sejal. The star took the job very seriously and turned up one fine day at the Meherangarh Fort to play guide to visiting tourists!

So…not only can you see the spot where Batman stood you may also bump into a cinema star!

If you’re thinking all this sounds quite random, well… honestly…it is!

But its hard to get kids enthused about history and architecture. So…try every approach you can! 🙂