The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation demolition squad raided Filmalaya Studios in suburban Mumbai on Tuesday and pulled down illegal structures on its premises.

"Around 100 people of our team cleared nearly 7,800 square feet of illegal property on the premises of the studio," Kalam Patil, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (demolition), told rediff.com.

The owners of the studio were not available for comment.

This is the first time that a film studio has been targeted by the BMC's demolition drive, which began in December 2004.

The move is part of Maharashtra government's drive to beautify Mumbai.

Interestingly, the demolition squad arrived just as the 'mahurat' of Sauda-The Deal, starring Preeti Jhangiani, Suman Ranganathan and Sanjay Kapoor was being shot. The film unit then hurriedly wrapped up their work.

The BMC also cleared some 750 square feet of illegal construction on Hotel Shalimar's premises in Bandra on Tuesday.