And other countries are trying to unseat Switzerland. This Tribune article rates Australia and Spain just below The Swiss Kiss: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130519/spectrum/main11.htm
An excerpt: Cashing in on the success of these films, many other filmmakers too tried to ape the formula. The picturesque Mykonos Island in Greece formed the background for Shah Rukh Khan to romance Rani Mukerji to the tunes of "*Tauba Tumare Yeh Ishare*" in Aziz Mirza’s *Chalte Chalte* (2003). Meanwhile, the beautiful landscape also provided relief to those watching Ashwini Chaudhary’s *Jodi Breakers *(2012) starring Bipasha Basu and R. Madhavan. Most of Anees Bazmee’s film *Singh is Kinng* (2008) was shot in Australia but Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif danced to the tunes of "*Teri Ore*" at the Great Sphinx and Pyramids in Giza, Egypt. Similarly, director Kunal Kohli set his *Hum Tum *(2004), starring Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji, in The Netherlands. Picturised on Aishwarya Rai at the wonders of the world, including the Pyramids in Egypt, Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy and Colosseum in Rome, the song "*Ajooba"* from Shankar’s Tamil romantic drama *Jeans* (1998) broke all records for the number of foreign locations featured in an Indian film. The dubbed Hindi version of the South Indian film, however, failed to do well at the boxoffice. Among the foreign location films which made big money is *Kaho Na...Pyar Hai * (2000). Hrithik Roshan became an overnight star with his debut film, which was extensively shot in New Zealand. His *Krrish* (2003), which gave Indian audiences its first Superman, was shot mainly in Singapore. The Forbidden City made an appearance in an Indian film for the first time in Akshay Kumar-starrer *Chandni Chowk to China* (2009). While many fight scenes in the film were shot at the Great Wall of China, parts of the film were shot in Bangkok too. Many directors have tried to explore newer locations to shoot their films. For instance, Imtiaz Ali’s *Rockstar* (2011), starring Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri, explored the hitherto untouched location of Prague in the Czech Republic. The year 2012 saw Kabir Khan shooting his* Ek Tha Tiger* in Cuba, Turkey and Ireland while Abbas-Mustan used Wellington, Auckland and St Petersburg as a setting for his *Players.* Homi Adajania’s *Cocktail* was shot in London and Cape Town, Africa. The borough of Manhattan in New York City came alive once again in Gauri Shinde’s* English Vinglish*. The yet-to-be released Susi Ganesan’s romantic thriller *Shortcut Romeo* has been shot in Masai Mara and Nairboi, Africa Thanks. Regards, Rashmi Dhanwani Linkedin: http://in.linkedin.com/in/rashmidhanwani Twitter: www.twitter.com/rashmid On Mon, Jul 22, 2013 at 11:46 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan <[email protected]>wrote: > Dev Anand was a futuristic film maker in Indian cinema in many ways - > which includes beating Yash Chopra to Switzerland. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONDviMDa3Hc > > Prem Pujari - 1970 Grimsel Pass, is actually quite a historic location > in Swiss history, but not the easiest to get to - and so by Bollywod > standards a non-obvious choice. It's a cliched mountain and train > scene - but it's a good mountain to pick. > > > Bollywood's Big-Screen Love Affair With Switzerland Fades To Black > 22.07.13 03:46:54- APIN > > (FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 7/22/13) > > By John Letzing > > ZURICH -- Last year, film producer Aashish Singh was planning overseas > shooting for his Mumbai studio's latest epic, the tale of an amnesiac bomb > disposal expert and the sweetheart he can't quite remember. > > In one scene, the lovers soar into the clouds and croon in each other's > arms, > a Bollywood motif commonly dubbed the "Cut to Switzerland" because so many > montages have been staged in the country's picturesque mountains. Mr. > Singh's > crew, however, opted for London rooftops rather than Alpine glaciers. > > Audiences today "like films a bit more real," says Mr. Singh, who works > at > Yash Raj Films. He says in this instance, money wasn't a factor -- though > Bollywood filmmakers have generally been put off by the increasing price > of > filming in Switzerland. "Everybody likes to save money," he said. > > For reasons both artistic and financial, there has been a plot twist in a > relationship as enduring as those at the heart of Bollywood romances. > Switzerland has been Indian cinema's A-list destination for movie > interludes > since the 1980s, when over-the-top duets set in the Bernese Alps were > featured > in genre hits like "Chandni." Since then, hundreds of Indian film crews > have > slipped on parkas and made the 5,000-mile trek from packed Mumbai to > Switzerland's snow pack. > > Now, other locales are driving a wedge between Switzerland and Indian > production crews as they try to capitalize on Bollywood demand for > saccharine > serenades. Some destinations, like the U.K., offer incentives such as cash > rebates. Others, like the Himalayas of Kashmir, are simply closer. > > The interlopers are getting help from the changing tastes of Indian > moviegoers, who continue to value starry-eyed interludes but want to see > them > better meshed with a realistic story line or staged in new places. Some > producers say they are scouting for new foreign locations because > Switzerland's > snowy peaks and lush valleys have been featured in Bollywood love stories > so > often they are now cliches. > > Romantic dance numbers are "more likely to be on Trafalgar Square than > on a > glacier," says Urs Eberhard, a Switzerland Tourism executive, who has > worked > with Indian film producers in the past. Bollywood film shoots in > Switzerland > have dwindled to about two or three per year compared with more than a > dozen > annually during the 1980s and '90s, Mr. Eberhard says. > > The late director Yash Chopra introduced his audiences to Switzerland in > 1985, > shooting chunks of "Faasle," a story of forbidden love, in the Alps. A > later > movie, 1989's "Chandni," established Switzerland's mountains as the go-to > location for Indian cinema as the movie chronicled the ordeal faced by a > helicopter accident survivor and his beloved, who sing and dance their way > through snow-capped mountains and verdant valleys. > > Akin to a dream sequence, a typical Cut to Switzerland abruptly whisks > the > protagonists of a movie away from its story line to frolic in a vivid > setting. > Many montages feature elaborate dance routines and costume changes that > put the > most ambitious music videos to shame. Eventually, the sequences became so > popular, Bollywood producers considered them de rigueur. > > "If you had a good budget, you did it," said Rachel Dwyer, a professor of > Indian cultures and cinema at SOAS, University of London. She calls a > scene in > Mr. Chopra's 1993 film "Darr" that involves a couple dancing out the door > of a > home in India and emerging in a Swiss meadow as "the sort of classic > case." > > Before Switzerland won its place, Bollywood filmmakers set similar > scenes in > Kashmir. But military tension in the region between India and Pakistan > pushed > film crews to look elsewhere for snowy peaks. "Switzerland became the > upgraded, > offshore version of Kashmir," said Bollywood director Imtiaz Ali. > > Switzerland's success with Bollywood didn't go unnoticed by other > locations, > many of which eagerly rolled out the red carpet to entice Indian > producers. > > About seven years ago, Film London, the agency that supports shoots in > the > city, journeyed to India on a trade mission and made a concerted bid to > lure > Bollywood filmmakers, according to spokeswoman Colette Geraghty. Now up > to a > dozen Bollywood productions shoot in the city every year. > > Few locales have tried to woo Bollywood more than the Tirol region in > Austria, > which plies Indian producers with financial incentives and can also pitch > "the > same mountains and lakes" as neighboring Switzerland, says Johannes > Koeck, who > heads the Cine Tirol Film Commission. > > Mr. Koeck is so eager to accommodate Bollywood producers he will oblige > their > most unusual requests. > > With a crew in the area to shoot the story of an inept secretary's > forbidden > love for an actor, Mr. Koeck says he was assigned to rustle up a troupe of > lederhosen-wearing dancers for an early morning shoot after a last-minute > addition to the script. He dutifully roused a local folklore group, > although > when the groggy members showed up to perform they were told the shoot had > been > scrapped. > > On another set, Mr. Koeck rode a cable car down a mountain to retrieve a > coconut Bollywood filmmakers had forgotten but needed for a traditional > ceremony performed before a shoot could start. > > "It's kind of a challenge to ask for coconuts on a Tirolean glacier," Mr. > Koeck says. > > Mr. Eberhard, the Swiss Tourism executive, says that Indian film crews > are > missing out if they skip Switzerland for Austria, which doesn't offer > "the same > majestic or impressive range of Alps." Still, he acknowledges Bollywood > crews > are willing to walk away if they don't get the star treatment. > > Ashwin Merchant, an official with Swiss Business Hub India, a group that > promotes trade between the countries, has advised filmmakers shooting in > Switzerland. He says Bollywood film shoots tend to spend lavishly when > they are > in town. That makes it difficult for him to understand why Switzerland > isn't > wooing productions with financial help when so many other countries are. > "Everyone's jumping in," he said. > > --- > > Preetika Rana contributed to this article. > >
