Bollywood Loves Italy

The Indian film industry, known as Bollywood in a teasing mix of Hollywood – the fictional capital of global film – and Bombay (now Mumbai) – the city where Indian cinema developed – is increasingly in love with Italy. Over the years, the imposing output of Indian cinema which produces an average of 1,500 titles annually in 30 different languages has discovered that it can count on a setting for its films, famous for their long length and the scenes of dance and song, in a country that fears no comparison in terms of variety of landscape or wealth of monuments: Italy.

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The scent of the sea My dear Venice (and more) Ain’t no mountain high enough

Genoa

The scent of the sea

Working in Italy’s favour are, of course, both food and atmosphere: many Indian actors, stars with millions of fans at home, love being able to stroll around places unnoticed in-between takes. One of these is Ravi Teja, who plays Kalyan, a man in continuous search of a ‘kick’ of stimulation, in the film Kick. In this category is his ardent courtship of Naina who, however, considers him to be a good for nothing and becomes betrothed to another man. The backdrop to his sentimental struggle is Liguria, in particular La Spezia and Cinque Terre. Meanwhile, a Mediterranean cruise sparks off the incident in Manmadhan Ambu: Ambu is an actress in love with a possessive rich man who has her followed constantly by a private investigator. The journey begins in Genoa, at the Stazione Marittima where the girl and the investigator meet..

My dear Venice (and more)

The actor, director and producer Raj Kapoor chose the calli of Venice for Sangam, his first film in colour, today considered a classic of Indian cinema. Loosely inspired by Gone with the Wind, the film features a love triangle: three friends, two boys and a girl, grow up together are divided as adults by their passions, with Sundar obsessed by the beautiful Radha who, however, prefers Gopal with whom she starts a relationship. Many years later, another Kapoor, Ranbir, Raj’s grandson, returned to the lagoon city for Bachna ae Haseeno where the main characters are tourists, taking gondola rides or walking around Piazza San Marco. The film focusses on the sentimental education of the singer Raj Sharma, outside of India, dealing with three women. In the drama Rockstar, Ranbir Kapoor, again, plays Jordan, a wildly ambitious musician who performs a concert at the Arena of Verona.

Ain’t no mountain high enough

In Badrinath, Badri is the guardian and protector of a sacred temple who meets a convinced atheist: they fall in love quickly and this helps the woman find faith. Unsurprisingly, the production chose a mystical location, Monte Berico, the Northernmost point of the Berici hills, over 100 metres high, surrounding the city of Vicenza. The Sanctuary of the city’s patron saint, the Madonna di Monte Berico, on its summit, is the setting for a scene of dance and song but the main characters also meet near the Ponte degli Alpini in Bassano del Grappa. At the much higher altitude of 1,441m, surrounded by thick forest and endless glaciers, the little town of La Thuile in Valle d’Aosta is the setting for the sentimental adventures of two young university students whose relationship is hindered by an underworld boss in Paglu 2.

Bollywood Loves Italy

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Genoa

The scent of the sea

Piazza San Marco – Venezia

My dear Venice (and more)

La Thuile

Ain’t no mountain high enough