Locations in Europe: Bruges, Belgium
Storyline
Star(s): Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Sanjay Dutt, Saurabh Shukla, Boman Irani
Songs/Dance: India, Belgium
Indian/ International Crew: Belgium - Sanne Rubbrecht (Assistant Standby Props), Koen Martens (Lighting Technician), Bo Molderez (Best Boy), Cine Qua Non (Grip Rental), Kara Supeley (Location Assistant), Jerina Devolder (Location Third Assistant), Ian De Bolle (Driver), Dieter Moeyaert (Camera Truck Driver), Kris de Bruyne (Digital Producer)
Language: Hindi
Line Producer/Executive Producer/Associate Producer: Sanjiv Kishinchandani (Executive Producer)
Director/Producer Rajkumar: Hirani (Director)/Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani (Producers)
Film Location Analysis
By Kaushik Bhaumik
PK was the first Bollywood film to be shot in Belgium. The location of Bruges was chosen according to director Hirani’s desire to shoot the song ‘Chaar Kadam’ in a location that had cobbled streets, a town hall, and canals. A 3500$ recce tour over Europe finally plumped for Bruges as it had all the three features, and Belgium was a location Bollywood hadn’t shot in before. But Eurydice Gysel of Czar production house in Belgium reported that Bruges was chosen because the film did not have the money to shoot in the originally desired location—Italy. Hirani got in touch with the Belgian Consulate in Mumbai, who put him in touch with the Flemish Tourism Office, while Czar handled production needs of the 10-day shoot. No money was involved from the Belgian side.
The song is shot mostly in the adjacent canal stretches of the Groenerei and Sint-Annerei (the erstwhile lacemaking district of Bruges) and the famous Minnawater (The Lake of Love) and Park, and the nearby picturesque Wijngaardplein district. The song begins at the Gouden Handrei district along one of the city’s canals, once the artists’ quarter in Bruges, quite apt since Sarfaraz is studying architecture and Jaggu, film production. The song then takes place mostly on the Sint-Annerei, where Sarfaraz rides a boat while singing away with a classical band, and Jaggu follows him on the street above on a bicycle. At one point, Sarfaraz jumps off the boat (at St. Anne’s Bridge) to surprise the heroine. The song returns to the canals on the Groenerei stretch and the sequence culminates at the Rozenhoedkaai (Rosary Quay). The couple kiss quite aptly at the Lake of Love. The song finishes with the couple riding a boat on the Groenerei.
Other important sequences of the film shot in Bruges (all in the first 20 minutes of the film) include a longish comic sequence at the Markt (Bruges’ main Market Square) and on the steps of the Provinciaal Hof (The Provincial Court) on the square, involving Sarfaraz and Jaggu being scammed by an old Indian man for a ticket on black for a sold-out show about Amitabh Bachchan and his poet father Harivansh Rai Bachchan. A second shorter sequence was shot inside the Burg (Bruges’ City Hall) involving Sarfaraz standing Jaggu up on the day of their wedding, the City Hall standing in for a church.
The use of Bruges is part of the recent practice of Bollywood films actively promoting exotic and new locales from one film to another. The interesting thing to note is the distinct urban turn now beyond the mountains and beaches scenario from before. There is a focus on the picturesque-ness of towns but also their historic and cultural landmarks that are dwelt upon at length. ‘Chaar Kadam’ is a fairy-tale romance song that takes advantage of the pristine toyland quality of Bruges to produce an enchanted world. The toyland metaphor works in two senses—one, the gamine Amelie-like charms of Jaggu mixed with New Wave references, and the infantile singsong of ‘we are all good and happy folk’ songs of the Indian middle cinema (mostly scored by Rajesh Roshan), which the director Hirani likes because he likes Chaplin. The use of the accordion, which in the song is of course a ‘French’ touch, is also the hallmark of the music by Shankar-Jaikishan for Raj Kapoor, whom he likes and therefore likes Chaplin. Secondly, the toyland quality of the city allows the town to function as a readymade set allowing for controlled bravura performances and camera work.
The canals and bridges remind of Venice and might be used deliberately to reference the ill-fated romance across two eternally feuding families—Romeo and Juliet—for a romance between a boy and a girl coming from a contemporary set of eternally feuding families–Pakistan and India. There is an interesting tension of scales between soaring romantic throes of the Bollywood song and the tightly framed spaces of Bruges, the narrowness of canals—perhaps a metaphor for love in a tight political world for South Asian lovers, or love in a claustrophobically taboo-ridden world in general. Considering that earlier romantic songs in historic locales were, as a rule, set in Islamic historical sites, contemporary Indian lovers romancing to history in Bruges might be because the Islamic monuments of romance in India are now blighted by a dark history of religious violence.
Additional Information & Links
ong: ‘Chaar Kadam’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKbwopSXLWU
https://vagabondimages.in/pk-at-bruges-a-first-for-bollywood/
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3605684
Tourism
