The allegedly haunted fort palace in Bhopal where Stree was filmed

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The allegedly haunted fort palace in Bhopal where Stree was filmed

The idea of having multiple Taj Mahals in India is not an alien thought. There are a number of Taj Mahals in India; maybe, they are not as grand as the one in Agra, but they are there nonetheless. One such Taj Mahal is in Bhopal. Allegedly, a haunted one.

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The Taj Mahal Fort in Bhopal once served as a residence for the Begum of Bhopal. Back then, it was one of the largest palaces in India. Looking at the architecture and the sheer size of it, the British Resident at Bhopal suggested a name change and that’s why we now know of this place as Taj Mahal Fort.

The palace was also featured in Rajkummar Rao starrer, Stree. This choice was an interesting one because this palace/fort is also one of the most haunted places in Bhopal (allegedly). It fits the plot of the movie like a glove!

The Taj Mahal Fort now stands all abandoned and in several stages of decay. The locals believe that the place is haunted, so much so that even the thought of visiting the place is frowned upon. Well, except for those who were not fazed with the ghostly tales. One such person was Amar Kaushik, the director of Stree. The nightly shoots were, most probably, done to bring out the “feel” of the movie. It worked beautifully for the movie.

Though the movie was a blockbuster at the box office, it was not without any incidents at the palace. As per reports, the cast and crew experienced several spooky experiences while filming the movie. From one of the cast members suddenly falling off from a height (he claimed he was pushed!) to the cast and crew being advised not to wear perfumes and leave the hair open (females), a lot of odd things took place at the palace.

After years of neglect and decay, the palace was eventually declared a state heritage by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. Some restoration works even took place for a brief period but things didn’t change much for the dilapidated palace. There are talks of turning the palace into a 120-room heritage hotel in place, but we are yet to see that happen. We can wait.

Also read: What caused the alleged haunting of Mussoorie’s Lambi Dehar Mines?

Not a lot of visitors visit this seemingly haunted palace, except for a few daredevils every now and then.

The palace might have been a beauty back then, but now the building gives out a feeling of gloom. If we can look past that, we will find beautiful British, French, Mughal, Arabic and Hindu influences in the architecture.