Where is A Suitable Boy filmed? Your location guide to the BBC and Netflix adaptation
Filming locations for the Vikram Seth adaptation included Lucknow, the tanneries in Kanpur, and the Ahilya Fort.
BBC One's lavish adaptation of Vikram Seth's bestseller A Suitable Boy is set in 1950s post-partition India, and was filmed entirely on location, with key scenes filmed in the likes of Lucknow and Kanpur.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, Tanya Maniktala (Lata) said of filming on location, "I think [filming in India] that was the best idea ever, because that adds so much authenticity to all the characters, and the experience, and the scene."
Read on for the key filming locations for the BBC adaptation A Suitable Boy.
Where is Haresh's tannery filmed?
Later in the series, Lata meets Haresh, a proud shoe maker who is also her third suitor and potential "suitable boy" competing for her hand.
Haresh works in a tannery in Kanpur, and the TV series shot those scenes in a real-life tannery on location.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, Tanya Maniktala said of filming in the tannery, "In Kanpur, we were shooting... with Haresh [Khanna, played by Namit Das], and we were actually in a tannery, and the smell - whatever you see on screen, it's the truth, we're not acting. It was great."
Which scenes were filmed in Lucknow?
Lucknow, the seat of Nawabi heritage and culture, was a key location for the series, its beautiful mosques and minarets providing the skyline of the series.
In the Northern city, 'mazy' streets lead down back alleys that in turn lead to sumptuous favelis - like the one inhabited by the courtesan Saeeda Bai, and which Maan visits.
Lucknow also provided the setting for some of the interiors depicted in the series, like the striking yellow Kapoor family home at the centre of the series.
Where was Lata's university filmed?
Lucknow is also an academic hub: King George Medical College stands in for Brahmpur University in the BBC series. In the show and Vikram Seth's book of the same name, Lata meets her first love interest, Kabir, while attending university.
Meanwhile the well-known private school La Martiniere College offered up several locations, from cricket nets to polo fields.
Where is the river from A Suitable Boy?
The sacred river Narmada is shadowed by the beautiful fort and temple complex Ahilya Fort, in the central Indian town of Maheshwar.
The river and fort provide the "soul of the series [A Suitable Boy]," with Lata's early morning boat rides providing some of the most memorable imagery from both the book and series.
A Suitable Boy begins BBC One on Sunday, 26th July at 9pm for UK and Irish viewers, and will be available on Netflix internationally.
Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best TV series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, or visit our TV Guide.
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