With its clean and modern look, the sleek Metro has gradually found its way into ad films and feature films, giving a glimpse of the new lifestyle of Delhi.

While Subhash Ghai’s Black and White has extensive sequences of the protagonists travelling to the walled city in the Metro, several ad campaigns like the ones for Idea and Hero Honda have begun using the Metro as a prominent backdrop for targeting young consumers.

“Delhi Metro is about the increasing aspirations of Delhi and its residents and is quite an extraordinary achievement for the city,” says Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

While Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap is planning to shoot part of his latest venture, D for Devdas, sometime in April, the Delhi government has also planned an extensive Metro sequence in a film meant to capture the spirit of a changing Delhi for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

The film to be made by production house Miditech — it earlier made a documentary on the Delhi Metro for television channel Discovery — will have a sequence showcasing the Metro as a link between the 16th century walled city and the modern capital of India.

“The Metro has exactly done that — bridging the gap between the old and the new,” says Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson Anuj Dayal.

“The Chawri Bazaar underground Metro station completed in 2004 is in fact one of the most difficult Metro projects in the world. Because of its cluttered and congested bylanes, the place was absolutely inaccessible, but with the Metro coming in people don’t find it difficult to go there now,” Dayal says.

But all good things come with a heavy price tag and so does the Delhi Metro. Shooting it in action can cost as much as Rs 1 lakh a day. “The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has to earn revenue because we run on low fares. If somebody wants to shoot at the stations or on the trains, they have to cough up a huge sum,” Dayal says.

The price includes a licence fee, a comprehensive insurance fee, a bank guarantee and an indemnity bond to “protect” Metro property. If the platform is a part of the scene, there are platform charges too.

Dayal is quick to add that shooting schedules are permitted only after ensuring that there is no inconvenience to passengers. “We make sure that train schedules are not disrupted. Shootings usually take place during relaxed hours or at depots,” he says.