Director Ali Abbas Zafar has done his homework well before commencing the shoot of Bharat . The filmmaker started his pre-production work in January end and was scouting locations for the film. And now, he has got the exact location to shoot the first scene of the film. Starring Salman Khan in the lead, Ali has decided to first complete the India-Pakistan partition sequence, for which, he has decided to go in interior Punjab and has finalized 45 local villages. Salman and team will shoot in those villages for 15 days to recreate the historical event.

A source informed a leading daily, “The idea is to make the most significant event of our country extremely real. The set will transport the audiences to the times of the Partition. Ali and his team went scouting in 45 villages in Punjab to lock the exact location where Salman will film these scenes. Kila Raipur, Gujjarwal, Bilga and Ghungrana are some of the villages where they have done a recce so far. He is yet to decide on the village that will be the starting point of Bharat’s Punjab schedule.”

In an earlier interview to a daily, Ali had said, “The original steam engines will be used for this shoot along with art, costumes, and nuances, which will give the feel of that era.”

The film will reunite Priyanka Chopra with Salman Khan after 11 years, and ace comedian Sunil Grover , will also be seen in it.

Backed by Salman’s brother-in-law, Atul Agnihotri , Bharat will hit the screens on Eid next year.