The DDLJ diaries

One of the things that we had decided to when we were planning our trip to Switzerland was to visit the places where Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge (DDLJ) was shot. 

The movies holds a special place in the hearts of many and ours too. I must have watched the movie at-least a dozen times. The dialogues have been learnt well, the scenes all to familiar. 

So after finding it out on the net, we got to know that the places we needed to head out to were Gstaad and Saanen. These are small towns in the Western part of the country. With the briliant public transport system that switzerland boasts of, getting there was never going to be a problem. 

On the way to the town of Gstaad and Saanen we spotted many such churches, which I think are the way churches would be in the country. But remembering 1995 when I first saw the movie, it was a unique church. 

This is the church that Simran askes Raj to take her to. Though in the movie the scene that follows, i.e. the inside of the church is not this church. We did go inside to verify it also.

This is the small town of Gstaad, where the movie's super hit song Zara sa Jhoom loon mai is shot. The town is so small that you can walk across the entire town in less than half hour.

After spending the time in Gstaad where only the song was shot, we headed to Saanen, where most of the other shooting happened.

We were on the lookout for the train that matched the color in the movie. The coaches' quality has improved, but the color remains. They are a part of the Golden Pass Railways.

We stumbled upon this small sculpture, and thought whether this could be the inspiration for the musical instrument that Raj plays in the movie.

Behind the church in Saanen, was this beautiful cemetery, just at the foothills of the beautiful landscape.

The Saanen town itself is very small, though larger than Gstaad.

The golden pass train makes its way into the Gstaad station.

The famous bridge over the river leads to the railway crossing that you see in the background. This is the place where Raj confesses his love for Simran, but later says it was a joke!

My Simran, remembering the movie.

This is the Kiosk that Raj engages Simran in the discussion over he being served first because he came first to the store. This leads to Simran missing her train.

And there goes the last train. Will have to wait the night in the town for the next morning train.

The whole of Switzerland is filled with such landscapes. It's no surprise that these hills have played backdrop to many of Yash Chopra's romantic movies.

This is the cafe in Gstaad, where Simran creates a hungama, after being drunk. The Song Zara sa Jhoom loon mai is shot here.

This is the small and easily accessible Saanen airport, that is just beside the railway tracks. Raj is introduced in the movie as showing running alongside a plane on this airport.

This is a typical house architecture in Switzerland, but I like to call the actual Yash Raj Studios :)