Bollywood’s love affair with the mountains
For my November column on Indian cinema, I wrote about Bollywood’s fascination with mountains and the strong connection of Indian films with Switzerland that was forged by filmmaker Yash Chopra. Read the full piece below:
The hero and heroine confess their love for each other; the camera zooms into their eyes that evoke the affection their lips just uttered and the scene cuts from an Indian city to Switzerland where a full, five-minute love song transpires in the Alpine vales. The song, often a dream sequence, is choreographed with multiple costume changes, most notably, the heroine in a brightly colored chiffon saree that beautifully contrasts against the stark white snow.
This is a surprisingly common trope in Bollywood films, and is even called the “cut to Switzerland” sequence. Bollywood has had a long-standing obsession with the mountains. Lush meadows, rows of coniferous trees and snow-capped peaks have come to be associated with romance in Indian films; filmmakers have spent lavishly on shooting picturesque love songs in the hills.
In the 1960s, the northern state of Kashmir was the location of choice for most romantic films. By the 1990s, Switzerland became the go-to destination, thanks to filmmaker Yash Chopra’s fascination with the country’s pristine beauty. The European country attracts hordes of Indian tourists to this day. Yash Chopra is known as the father of Swiss tourism and has had several honors conferred upon him by the Swiss government.
In this month’s column, I will trace the relationship between Hindi films and the mountains — more importantly, the Alpine peaks and glacial lakes of Switzerland.
From Kashmir to Switzerland
It was the 1949 film “Barsaat,” directed by Raj Kapoor, that first introduced Indian audiences to the valley of Kashmir. The black-and-white musical was about city boys visiting the mountains for leisure and falling in love with the beautiful women that reside in mountainous places.
The main reason for movies being filmed in mountains was the breathtaking visuals. Through films, Indian audiences could travel vicariously to these idyllic places at a time when traveling within the country was nearly impossible for most of the population. It also gave the film unit focused time away from the constant bustle of studio shoots.
The 1961 film “Junglee” showcased the Kashmir valley in Eastmancolor and a slew of Bollywood filmmakers of that decade made a beeline to shoot their movies in the mountain state. The 1964 film “Sangam” was pathbreaking as the first Indian film to be shot partially in Switzerland. The love triangle between childhood friends Radha, Gopal and Sunder shows the newly married couple honeymooning in Switzerland. It was filmmaker Yash Chopra who, in the late 1980s and 1990s, made Switzerland a destination as recognizable as their backyard for Indian audiences.
Chopra was known for his saccharine romances and dream-like visuals. In the 1970s, when he visited Switzerland for his honeymoon, he decided to shoot his next few projects there. His 1989 film, “Chandni,” was shot extensively in Switzerland, especially the film’s song sequences. The movie was a box office hit and equally successful became the locations where the film was shot.
Interlaken, Gstaad, Grindelwald, Jungfraujoch, Lake Lauenen became staples in Chopra movies. His wife, Pamela Chopra, recalled in an interview on Rediff.com how it was much easier to secure permissions to shoot in Switzerland than in India. She added that if a filmmaker wanted to shoot at a railway station in India, they were required to file paperwork six months in advance, whereas at a Swiss railway station, it was the person present at the station who was in charge of granting permissions and usually, they gave access immediately.
Furthermore, the scenic places in Switzerland were all easily accessible by road, which made traveling with filming equipment far more convenient than in a place like Kashmir. Following the success of Chopra’s films, other Indian filmmakers began shooting in Switzerland as well. To date, about 300 Indian films have been shot in Switzerland, and at the peak of its popularity, at least a dozen movies were filmed there annually.
Father of Swiss tourism
To commemorate his contribution to Switzerland’s economy, Chopra was awarded an honorary title as the Ambassador of Interlaken in 2011. In the same year, the Jungfrau Railways named a train after him called the “Yash Chopra train,” an honor that is shared only with the railway’s founder, Adolf Guyer. The Chopra suite in the Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken is where visitors can spend a night for approximately $2,347. In its original avatar, the suite was adorned with original posters of Chopra’s films and behind-the-scenes photographs.
In 2016, a bronze statue of the late director was unveiled where he is seen holding his camera. The location of the statue is among the several attractions on the specially created “Bollywood tour” that visitors can take in the Alpine region. Switzerland is among the top three travel destinations for Indians.
Apart from seeing the places where their favorite films were shot, Bollywood fans visit Switzerland to tick one important item off their itinerary: to pose in front of Swiss meadows and glacial lakes while wearing colorful chiffon sarees, just like a Chopra heroine.