Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi film in Dubai

If Dubai is all about the glitz and glamour, as far as Bollywood is concerned that is, director Mohit Suri is here to change that. With Hamari Adhuri Kahani (Our incomplete story), a drama starring Vidya Balan, Emraan Hashmi and Rajjkumar Rao, Suri says he’s here to show a very different side of the city.

“In Indian films, the Dubai is normally treated as a place you go to for high-tech buildings and modern landscapes. But I want to romanticise it,” said Suri, speaking between takes on location at the Miracle Garden in Dubailand on Monday. “I want to show its softer side.”

The 33-year-old and his two leads, Balan and Hashmi, have been filming in and around Dubai for the past few months, shuttling between Cape Town in South Africa, Abu Dhabi and Hatta.

The Miracle Garden shoot was the final day of the UAE leg of production.

“We were here a month ago, but the weather was not ideal. So we had to come back again,” said Suri. “If you look around, you will see it’s perfect for people dancing around trees in a burst of colours. But I’m not going to do that. I’m trying to get the real meaning of the beauty of this place, and what it stands for.”

Dubai, said Suri, will be represented as Dubai in the film, adding that 30 per cent of the film, including three song sequences, will be set in the UAE where Balan’s character lives for a few years. The actress, who will be seen together with Hashmi after last year’s Ghanchakkar, plays a florist.

“It is great to see another Bollywood [film] choose Dubai as its filming location. We strive to establish Dubai and the UAE as the premier filming destination for local and around the globe productions and this is a testament that the Emirate enjoys a wide variety of backgrounds and places that cater for all types of productions,” said Jamal Al Sharif, the chairman of the Dubai Film & TV Commission and managing director of Dubai Studio City.

The story of Hamari…, which has been described as ‘an intense love story’ is reportedly loosely based on the story of the film’s writer and producer Mahesh Bhatt’s parents. Suri and Hashmi are both Bhatt’s nephews. The film’s set to release in June 2015.