Monsoon Palace

Monsoon Palace, also known as Sajjangarh Palace, is a nineteenth-century hilltop palace overlooking Udaipur in Rajasthan, India. It stands on Bansdara Peak in the Aravalli Hills, approximately 944 metres above sea level, with extensive views across Fateh Sagar Lake, Lake Pichola and the surrounding countryside. The palace was commissioned by Maharana Sajjan Singh of the Mewar dynasty, who began its construction in 1884 and originally intended the building to become an astronomical centre from which the movement of the monsoon clouds could be observed. Sajjan Singh died unexpectedly at the age of 26 before his ambitious plans could be completed, and his successor Maharana Fateh Singh finished the structure on a more modest scale. It subsequently served as a royal retreat and hunting lodge. Built primarily from pale stone and marble, the palace is characterised by domes, turrets, arches and projecting jharokha balconies. Its isolated position high above Udaipur and the winding road through what is now Sajjangarh Wildlife Sanctuary have made it one of the city’s most distinctive landmarks.

Monsoon Palace has appeared in Octopussy (1983), Dhamaal (2007) and The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008). Its most famous screen appearance is in Octopussy (1983), where the palace becomes the imposing residence of villain Kamal Khan. Dhamaal (2007) used Sajjangarh and the roads and countryside around the palace during the characters’ chaotic race towards Goa, while The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008) transformed its terraces into a colourful Bollywood rehearsal and dance location.

In Octopussy (1983), Monsoon Palace represents the exterior of the residence belonging to exiled Afghan prince Kamal Khan. After James Bond follows the trail of a counterfeit Fabergé egg to India, he is captured by Gobinda and taken to Khan’s remote hilltop palace outside Udaipur. The real Sajjangarh Palace is used repeatedly for exterior establishing shots, giving Khan’s home its commanding position above the surrounding countryside. Bond is held prisoner there before escaping and fleeing into the jungle, where Khan, Gobinda and their men pursue him during an elaborate hunt involving elephants and beaters. Monsoon Palace returns during the climax after Bond follows Kamal Khan back to India. Octopussy and her women attack the palace while Bond arrives by hot-air balloon, leading to a large battle around Khan’s stronghold. Not everything presented as the palace was actually filmed at Sajjangarh: many interiors, including Bond’s dinner with Khan, the staircase sequences and underground rooms, were created elsewhere or at Pinewood Studios. The production also constructed a large recreation of part of the palace courtyard at Pinewood for action material that could not practically be staged at the historic building.

In Dhamaal (2007), Monsoon Palace and the surrounding Sajjangarh area appear during the increasingly chaotic journey of Roy, Manav, Aditya and Boman as they race against police inspector Kabir Nayak to reach a hidden fortune in Goa. Although the story supposedly follows the characters across western India towards Goa, several of the rural road and woodland sequences were actually filmed around Udaipur. Sajjangarh is particularly associated with the sequence in which Kabir gains the upper hand and ties the four men to a tree so that he can continue towards the treasure without them. The winding hillside roads and countryside around Monsoon Palace are used during this section, and the distinctive palace can be seen overlooking the landscape in shots from the area. The production therefore makes more use of the Sajjangarh surroundings than of the rooms of the palace itself, with the location standing in for an anonymous stretch of the characters’ supposedly much longer journey to Goa.

In The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008), Monsoon Palace appears during the musical’s Indian section after Chanel, Dorinda and Aqua travel to India to take part in the Bollywood production Namaste Bombay. One of the clearest uses of the palace comes during “Dance Me If You Can”. The Cheetah Girls meet the film’s choreographer Gita, who begins teaching them Bollywood choreography but quickly questions whether they can keep up with her dancers. Dorinda takes the criticism personally and the rehearsal develops into a competitive dance battle between the Cheetahs and Gita’s group. The sequence was filmed on the terraces of Sajjangarh Palace, with its white arches, jharokhas and panoramic hilltop setting clearly visible around the performers. What begins as an argument gradually turns into mutual admiration as both groups incorporate elements of the other’s dancing. The production filmed extensively around Udaipur, but the distinctive elevated setting makes the “Dance Me If You Can” sequence one of the easiest Monsoon Palace appearances to identify.

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