Indian cinema and Switzerland

Last updated

Although Indian cinema has been shot in a variety of foreign settings, the use of Switzerland as a backdrop for many scenes in Indian cinema, especially Hindi films, has been particularly notable for its unusual prevalence, with the country being consistently featured and involved as a setting despite its relatively large distance and small size, lack of a significant diaspora population, and location outside the Anglosphere. This has been attributed to its natural beauty, particularly the snowy mountains of the Swiss Alps which are considered an exotic locale for much of India and are heavily featured in romantic scenes, that Indian filmmakers were looking for to replace Kashmir after the security situation there deteriorated. It is estimated that around 200 Indian films have been at least partially shot in Switzerland.

Contents

This phenomenon started in 1964 with the film Sangam , and some films followed in its footsteps through the rest of the decade. With the liberalisation of the Indian economy, there was a major boom in the use of Switzerland as a setting in the 1990s, with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and other Yash Raj films being considered the ones that cemented Switzerland in the Indian public. As the practice started to be perceived as cliche and Bollywood expanded its use of other locales, the use of Switzerland has since entered a decline. However, the Swiss government and tourism associations have successfully used these images of Switzerland to successfully promote travel from India, with financial incentives being offered for further productions to be filmed there and statues of Indian film personalities being built. Although Indians make a small share of tourism in the country, their numbers are growing rapidly, with "Bollywood tours" becoming popular throughout central Switzerland.

History

Snowy mountains have been a popular setting in Hindi cinema for romantic scenes and love songs, a tradition which Indologist Philip Lutgendorf states has its roots in the Hindu mythos of the mountains as a supernatural place that also serves at the "playground" of the immortals in love and lust, as well as stereotypes of the "liberalness" of mountain populations based on Indian perspectives of Kashmir and Nepal. [1] Traditionally, locations in India with the required terrain and climate such as Kashmir, Manali and Ooty have been used. [2] The first Indian film shot in Switzerland was 1964's Sangam . In the film, the protagonists go on a European honeymoon, visiting the Swiss Alps around Grindelwald and Interlaken while dealing with the tension of a love triangle. [3] The film was advertised as the first in Indian cinema with scenes in Western European places such as London and Venice along with Switzerland, and led to other films featuring international shots, with 1967's An Evening in Paris being filmed completely abroad, including in Switzerland. [2] [4]

After 1970's Prem Pujari , the practice started to wane and went stagnant for the next two decades. [5] However, the same year, filmmaker Yash Chopra went to Switzerland on his own honeymoon. Inspired, he started working in the country into his own projects. The first film he shot in Switzerland was Faasle in 1985, but it was Chandni (1989) which began to implanted Switzerland in India's popular consciousness, as it was not only a major hit but also revitalized the romantic genre after a period of action dominance, giving the country and its scenery a romantic connotation for many Indians. [6] [7] The same year, the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir began, making the area too unsafe for most film production. Combined with the liberalisation of the Indian economy, this led to the number of Indian film shoots in Switzerland reaching a high point in the 1990s, with over a dozen per year. The most famous film of the period was Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), which went on to become one of the most famous Bollywood films ever. [4] [6] [8] However, Switzerland started being perceived as cliche soon afterwards as audiences wished for more realistic stories and interludes, and has also faced competition from other destinations that are either closer to India or offering more financial incentives, so the amount of Indian productions filming there has dropped substantially, with only two to three a year in 2013. [6] Nevertheless, major Hindi film productions have continued to shoot there alongside a growing number of Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films due to ease of shooting and low bureaucratic hurdles compared to other countries. [9]

Between 1923 and 2018, Switzerland was measured to be the second most popular country in Europe, behind the United Kingdom, for shooting by Indian film productions. [10] The overwhelming majority of Indian films filmed in Switzerland have been shot in the center of the country, mainly in the canton of Bern in places such as Interlaken and Gstaad. [11] A. S. Bhalla has suggested that may be due to the relatively accessibility of that region compared to southern Switzerland, which has similar scenery, and existing familiarity among Indian audiences crediting a feedback loop that results in new productions and tour agents ignoring lesser known sites. [5] Although other Indian film industries have also shot scenes in Switzerland, Hindi cinema's usage of the country is the most well known and studied. [12]

Impact

Through this exposure, Switzerland has been firmly placed in India's national popular culture, with Indian president Ram Nath Kovind proclaiming that "Bollywood has taken Switzerland to every nook and corner of India" on a 2019 visit to the country. [13] Through initiatives and promotions from the Swiss government and tourism companies, this popularity has been harnessed to fuel a small but quickly-growing Indian tourism in Switzerland through the last decade. [14] Chopra's films in particular have been recognized for their role in publicizing Switzerland, with a statue of him being built in Interlaken in tribute. [15] [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge</i> 1995 Bollywood musical romance film

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, also known by the initialism DDLJ, is a 1995 Indian Hindi-language musical romance film written and directed by Aditya Chopra in his directorial debut and produced by his father Yash Chopra. Released on 20 October 1995, the film stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as Raj and Simran, two young non-resident Indians, who fall in love during a vacation through Europe with their friends. Raj tries to win over Simran's family so the couple can marry, but Simran's father has long since promised her hand to his friend's son. The film was shot in India, London, and Switzerland, from September 1994 to August 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anupam Kher</span> Indian actor

Anupam Kher is an Indian actor, director and producer who works primarily in Hindi-language films. Considered one of the finest actors in Indian cinema, he has played a variety of characters including numerous critically acclaimed leading or supporting roles. His accolades include two National Film Awards and eight Filmfare Awards. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution to Indian cinema and arts.

<i>Kuch Kuch Hota Hai</i> 1998 Bollywood musical romance film

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic comedy drama written and directed by Karan Johar and produced by his father Yash Johar under Dharma Productions. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukherji and Salman Khan in lead roles, with Sana Saeed in a pivotal supporting role. The plot combines two love triangles set years apart. The first half covers friends on a college campus, while the second tells the story of a widower's young daughter who tries to reunite her dad with his old best friend.

<i>Mohabbatein</i> 2000 film by Aditya Chopra

Mohabbatein is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama film written and directed by Aditya Chopra and produced by Yash Chopra under his banner Yash Raj Films. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai, and newcomers Uday Chopra, Shamita Shetty, Jugal Hansraj, Kim Sharma, Jimmy Sheirgill, and Preeti Jhangiani. It narrates the story of Narayan, the strict principal of Gurukul college whose daughter Megha, commits suicide after he opposes her relationship with Raj, a music teacher at the college. The story follows Raj aiding with three Gurukul students and their love interests to rebel against Narayan's intolerance of love.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yash Chopra</span> Indian film director and film producer (1932–2012)

Yash Raj Chopra was an Indian film director and film producer who worked in Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chopra was the recipient of several awards, including 6 National Film Awards and 8 Filmfare Awards. He is considered among the best Hindi filmmakers, particularly known and admired for his romantic films with strong female leads. For his contributions to film, the Government of India honoured him with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001, and the Padma Bhushan in 2005. In 2006, British Academy of Film and Television Arts presented him with a lifetime membership, making him the first Indian to receive the honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yash Raj Films</span> Indian film studio founded 1970

Yash Raj Films (YRF) is an Indian film production and distribution company founded by filmmaker Yash Chopra in 1970. Since 2012, it is led by his son Aditya Chopra. The company mainly produces and distributes Hindi films, and is one of the largest film studios in India. List of films.

The Mukherjee-Samarth family is a Hindu Bengali-Marathi family that has been involved in the Hindi film industry since the 1930s, Shobhana Samarth having first acted in a film in 1935. The Mukherjee family was connected to the Samarth family by Tanuja's marriage to Shomu Mukherjee in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Himani Shivpuri</span> Indian actress

Himani Bhatt Shivpuri is an Indian actress who is known for her character roles in Hindi films and Hindi soap operas. She is best known for her role in the films including Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), Raja (1995), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Khamoshi (1996), Hero No. 1 (1997), Deewana Mastana (1997), Bandhan (1998), and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). She has also starred in several other films including Biwi No.1 (1999), Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) and Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003).

Manmohan Singh is an Indian film director and cinematographer. He is the director of Punjabi films and the cinematographer of Bollywood films. In the past, he had frequently collaborated with Yash Chopra and his son Aditya Chopra, for whom he shot Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991), Darr (1993), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), and Mohabbatein (2000). Besides his Bollywood career as a cinematographer, he is also known as a pioneering director in Punjabi cinema. He directed his first Hindi film, Pehla Pehla Pyar in 1994 and his first Punjabi film Jee Ayan Nu in 2003. He received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the PTC Punjabi Film Awards 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achala Sachdev</span> Indian actress (1920–2012)

Achala Sachdev was an Indian actress who appeared in classic films of Hindi language film industry, who started her career as a child actor. She later became known for mother and grandmother roles in Hindi films. Her most memorable roles were as Balraj Sahni's wife in Waqt (1965) and Kajol's grandmother in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anupama Chopra</span> Indian author, journalist, film critic

Anupama Chopra (née Chandra) is an Indian author, journalist and film critic who served as the festival director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival from 2015 to 2023. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written several books on Indian cinema and has been a film critic for NDTV, India Today, as well as the Hindustan Times. She also hosted a weekly film review show The Front Row With Anupama Chopra, on Star World. She won the 2000 National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema for her first book Sholay: The Making of a Classic. She presently critiques movies and interviews celebrities for Film Companion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maratha Mandir</span> CInema hall in Mumbai, India

Maratha Mandir is a cinema hall located in Maratha Mandir Marg, Mumbai, India. It opened on 16 October 1958 and has 1000 seats. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was known for its lavish film launches, but the introduction of multiplexes diverted "class" viewers from establishment with the "masses" of the working class patronizing the theatre instead. It is currently known for holding a record after screening the film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge for 1009 weeks since its release in 1995, on 19 February 2015. As of September 2019, the film has been running for a continuous 1230 weeks. This cinema hall is one of the famous landmarks in Mumbai.

Pooja Ruparel is an Indian actress who appears in Bollywood movies and TV series. She is well known for her iconic role as "Chutki" in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, one of India's most successful films. She has also acted in a number of plays, apart from being a stand-up comedian and a singer.

Sharmishta Roy is an Indian film art director and production designer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema.

Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna is a popular 1995 Hindi song from Bollywood movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Udit Narayan.

<i>Yash Chopra</i> (book) Biography by Rachel Dwyer

Yash Chopra is a biography written by the British professor and author Rachel Dwyer, chronicling the life and career of the Indian filmmaker Yash Chopra. The book details Chopra's birth in 1932 in Lahore, his career both as a director and producer, and his 1970 marriage to the then-playback singer Pamela, with whom he had two sons Aditya and Uday. The British Film Institute published Yash Chopra on 29 April 2002 in the United Kingdom and Roli Books did so on 30 July in India.

<i>Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge</i> (book)

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is a 2002 Indian book written by the journalist and film critic Anupama Chopra. It details the production of and analysing the plot and well commercial performance of Aditya Chopra's 1995 romantic drama of the same name, the longest-running film in Indian cinema history.

<i>King of Bollywood</i> (book) Biography by Anupama Chopra

King of Bollywood is a biography by the film critic and journalist Anupama Chopra, chronicling the life and career of Shah Rukh Khan. The book describes his personal life such as his birth in 1965 in New Delhi and his marriage to Gauri Chibber in 1991. The book also outlines his career as an actor, film producer, and television presenter. It was published by Grand Central Publishing on 9 August 2007 and became a commercial success. Its critical reception was positive, with Chopra's writing garnering appreciation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yash Chopra filmography</span> Yash Chopras films

Yash Chopra (1932–2012) was an Indian film director and producer known for his works in Bollywood. Acknowledged as one of the greatest filmmakers from the country, he was credited by the media for "changing the face of romance to become a brand" in the industry. He made his directorial debut with the family drama Dhool Ka Phool, which was produced by his elder brother Baldev Raj. The film, released in 1959, became a commercial success worldwide and gave him critical acclaim. Chopra's next film, Dharmputra (1961), failed to perform well at the box office but won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. In 1965, he directed the drama Waqt about a family who are separated due to a natural disaster. A commercial success, it was one of the earliest Indian films to star an ensemble cast and won a first Best Director trophy for him at the Filmfare Awards.

<i>Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge</i> (soundtrack) 1995 soundtrack album by Jatin–Lalit

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is the soundtrack to the 1995 film of the same name directed by Aditya Chopra for Yash Raj Films, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. It was released by the HMV label in July 1995. The soundtrack, which was developed for four months, features seven songs composed by Jatin–Lalit and lyrics written by Anand Bakshi. The soundtrack set records in sales, thereby the best-selling Hindi film soundtrack of the year and has been considered as one of the best Bollywood music albums of all time. The album won two Filmfare Awards, out of five nominations.

References

  1. ↑ Lutgendorf, Philip (2005). "Sex in the Snow: The Himalayas as Erotic Topos in Popular Hindi Cinema". Himalaya: The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies. 25 (1). Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies: 29–38. ISSN   2471-3716 . Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  2. 1 2 Rao, Shakuntala (2010). ""I Need an Indian Touch": Glocalization and Bollywood Films". Journal of International and Intercultural Communication. 3 (1): 12. doi: 10.1080/17513050903428117 . ISSN   1751-3057.
  3. ↑ Chandrasekhar, Anand (18 June 2019). "On the trail of the first Indian film shot in Switzerland". Swissinfo . Swiss Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 Mansky, Jackie. "The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Bollywood". Smithsonian . Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  5. 1 2 Bhalla 2019, Indian Bollywood in Switzerland.
  6. 1 2 3 Letzing, John (22 July 2013). "Bollywood's Big-Screen Love Affair With Switzerland Fades to Black". The Wall Street Journal . ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 9 February 2021– via www.wsj.com.
  7. ↑ "Swiss tourism industry owes a debt to Indian actress Sridevi". Swissinfo . Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  8. ↑ "Bollywood's long-standing love affair with Switzerland". House of Switzerland. Presence Switzerland . Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  9. ↑ Janta & Herzog 2023, pp. 126–130.
  10. ↑ Kozina, Jani; Stachowiak, Krzysztof; Ciglič, Rok; Gašperič, Primož; Urbanc, Mimi (19 July 2024). "European screen locations in the Indian film industry: evolutionary, spatial, and collaborative perspectives". GeoJournal. 89 (4). doi: 10.1007/s10708-024-11149-9 . ISSN   1572-9893.
  11. ↑ "Switzerland attempts a makeover to seduce young Indians". Swissinfo . Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  12. ↑ Rajan (17 December 2014). "50 years of Indian cinema in Switzerland". Newly Swissed . Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  13. ↑ "Indian movies as effective as Google Maps in understanding topography of Switzerland: Kovind". Business Standard . Press Trust of India. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  14. ↑ "Swiss yatra". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  15. ↑ Kim, Sangkyun; Reijnders, Stijn (13 October 2017). Film Tourism in Asia: Evolution, Transformation, and Trajectory. Springer. ISBN   978-981-10-5909-4 – via Google Books.
  16. ↑ Chandrasekhar, Anand (4 May 2016). "Swiss honour Indian filmmaker Yash Chopra with statue" . Retrieved 17 August 2024.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.