Locations in Europe: Italy – Venice, Rome, Capri, Naples; Switzerland – Alpine Coaster Glacier Gstaad, AM Platz Bad Ragaz, Appenzell
Storyline
Star(s): Shot in India and different locations of Europe – Italy, Switzerland.
Songs/Dance: Shot in India and different locations of Europe – Italy, Switzerland.
Indian/ International Crew: Collaboration between Indian and international crews.
Language: Hindi
Director/Producer: Siddharth Anand (Director), Produced by Aditya Chopra, Yashraj Films
Line Producer/ Location Managers Leo Angelini – Location Manager: Puglia Ben Connoly – Location Assistant: Australia Stefano Dalla Lana – Location Manager: Venezia Ashley McLeod – Location Manager: Australia Simona Prosperi – Location Manager: Rome
Film Location Analysis
By Ranjani Mazumdar
This is a film that mobilises locations to stage the breezy quality of the romance that is central to the narrative. Since there are three women involved in the film, each encounter is placed in a different location. Two songs are shot on stage indoors, while one is shot in Amritsar, Punjab. The other three songs use European locations, a form aided by the travel structure of the narrative. In typical YRF style, the song sequences are most dramatically deployed to showcase the wondrous and lush landscape of Italy and Switzerland. While Switzerland harkens back to the DDLJ myth, Italy offers a mix of familiar and unfamiliar locations, carefully calibrated into three song sequences with the explicit intention of mapping place.
As stated, the first segment of the film is an ode to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, using the Eurorail and Switzerland’s scenic landscape to stage the romantic encounter. Raj journeys to Switzerland and meets Mahi there, and after a magical kiss, we cut to an energetically mounted song titled "Ahista Ahista." It begins with Raj and Mahi on a two-wheeler moving across winding, large roads that curve through a green valley space. The couple slowly gathers a team of other bikers, all following them at a coordinated rhythmic speed and choreographed hand movement synchronised with the song. The impact of the road is also enhanced through aerial photography. The song moves through Rougemont, known for its green cover and then suddenly cuts to the Swiss Alps, where the two protagonists are now alone on a roller coaster, exhilarated by the rush of the speedy movement on snow tracks. This thrilling experience was shot on a glacier 3,000 metres high near Gstaad. We also see them sledging dogs and wolves in the snow. Apart from the action-oriented moments in the snow, the song also works with classic compositions, with the characters framed in the foreground and background to enhance the scale and expanse of the Swiss Alps.
While “Ahista Ahista” follows a frenetic form of movement, the song, “Khuda Jaane” has a languid pace with dramatic camera movement to enhance the locations. These sites, which were shot in Italy, become significant as a romantic tourist encounter in which Gayatri and Raj have embarked on a vacation with their Indian passports. While there are thrilling moments in the sequence, it is not shot with any sense of speed or urgency but with a sculpting and navigational imagination. “Khuda Jaane” uses several locations, combining the architectural heritage of known and lesser-known sites with beach towns, rivers, and the rocky landscape associated with parts of Italy. The song begins in Piazza San Marco, Venice's central public square, which is easily identified by the overuse of St. Mark's Campanile (bell tower), the most well-known and highest structure in Venice. From this space, the song moves to a boat ride showcasing the city’s Grand Canal. People are not visible in most of these shots, making it clear that the space was either used off-season or was closed for visitors during the shooting, highlighting the scale of infrastructure involved in the mapping of such places in cinema. The song's next destination becomes the Mattinata seaside town, presenting the dramatic expanse of the water, its rocky coastline walls, and oceanic rock formations known as Faraglione, especially those standing in the middle of the sea and appearing like gateways. The next location is Santa Cesarea Terme, a province of Lecce, Appulia. The place is known for water that flows out of semi-submerged caves, and the rock formations have been dramatically shown in the sequence. On one tall, carved-out pillar, Raj can be seen swaying his hands, but the actor recalls how his phobia of heights made it difficult for him to perform. From the dramatic use of natural landscape and rocks, the song moves finally to Alberobello, a small town of 10,000 people with hut-like structures that have conical roofs. In 1996, UNESCO declared this a World Heritage Site, identifying its prehistoric building technique as rare but still being used in the region. These structures, known as trulli houses, are made with limestone boulders, and built with a dome-like conical roof. The camera walks with the characters through the streets as well as uses high-angle shots taken from a helicopter to highlight the vast roof tops of the huts. The song ends with a return to all the locations in a brief montage.
The song "Small Town Girl" is shot with Radhika and Raj and uses an entirely different kind of movement. Here, it is not romance but punishment being meted out to Raj by Radhika as she makes him run around the city and home for her errands. The busy streets of Rome are mobilised to stage this movement, with Raj racing across pebbled streets, crowded piazzas, malls, and fashion districts following Radhika. Well-known landmarks are used to evoke the place—the Pantheon, the Fontana della Barcaccia, etc. At one point, Radhika asks Raj to dance for her because she is bored. This performance is staged right in front of the Fontana della Barcaccia as a crowd gathers to watch. Rome emerges in this segment as a city of heritage architecture adorned with a modern landscape of fashion as we move through a line of cosmetic and clothing shop windows. Shopping is encoded into the sequence, with Raj carrying stuff and holding on to bags as Radhika tries out her outfits in trial rooms. This song sequence maps Radhika’s home as a contemporary architectural interior with a dramatic natural view of the Naples coastline.
Additional Information & Links
https://upperstall.com/film/bachna-ae-haseeno/
https://www.cntraveller.in/article/around-world-ranbir-kapoor/#s-cust0
http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/bachna-ae-haseeno-gets-nominated-at-hamburg/362502/
https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/swiss-roll/articleshow/15837222.cms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IrP77PzkI0
Tourism
https://www.filmapia.com/where-is-it-shot/films/bachna-ae-haseeno
http://movietraveller.blogspot.com/2012/08/bachna-ae-haseeno-2008.html
https://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-ready-for-some-alpine-fun-1224067
