A Critical Analysis of an Architectural Heritage Site as a Filming Location Through Heritage Impact Assessments: The Case of Amber Palace, Rajasthan, India

Abstract

The phenomenon of using architectural heritage sites as filming locations results in multi-faceted effects. Its overall study, particularly in the underexplored context of India, is the authors’ broader ongoing research. This article, as a part of this study, using heritage impact assessment methods, identifies and measures the phenomenon’s beneficial and detrimental impacts through the case study of Amber Palace, Rajasthan. Along with its known historical and architectural importance, the site also has a history of structural damage and human injuries from the past filming of Veer (2009–2010). Despite court orders, no significant efforts were taken for the necessary upgradation of guidelines, and later in 2013, the site received the World Heritage status, making it an intriguing case for this study. The impacts are assessed across three temporalities—pre-filming, while filming and post-filming—through the qualitative study of the experiences shared by the site’s stakeholders. The findings are represented through a matrix showing the severity of impact of each action, and the revelation is that the negative impacts are higher in every phase and require urgent scholarly attention and mitigation measures. While creating policy and making recommendations are not in the scope of this study, this would provide a starting point for decision-making in holistic management and conservation of architectural heritage sites as filming locations.