National Geographic Traveller India – July 2019

THE DESTINATION

SUSANNE NEUMANN/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES

(STREET),

GUYCARPENTERPHOTO/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES

(GRAFFITI)

touristy (and long-drawn) of routes,
crossing the Westminster Bridge,
Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and
Ministry of Defence, with the sequence
introducing London to viewers. The
paths of the lovers Simran (Kajol) and
Raj (SRK) first cross unwittingly in
Leicester Square. Before riding off into
the sunset with Simran on a train in
the climax (shot at Apta Station), he
pulls her onto a train at the Victorian
King’s Cross Station in London,
ensuring she makes it for her Europe
trip with her friends (he’s on one too
with his). Another song features them
dreaming about each other in London’s
open-top buses, parks, or while riding
the escalators at Angel Underground
Station. The second half is shot in
India, but by now London is firmly
embedded in the fan’s (and my) brain.
In Karan Johar’s K3G (2001), Rohan
(Hrithik Roshan) learns from a distant
relative’s kid that his estranged elder
brother Rahul (SRK), has moved to
London. “Woh London gaye. Ek din
mein bhi jaunga,” the kid tells Rohan.
These words were echoed by a friend of
mine, another diehard fan, when she
visited the city for the first time last
year. There was no bevy of girls singing
“Vande Mataram” to welcome her on
the other side, as in Rohan’s case, but
she managed to get her photos at Tower
Bridge, The London Eyeand Natural
History Museum, spots Rohan is shown

in. Fans can dine at Cantina del Ponte

at Butler’s Wharf. It’s got one of the

most scenic views of Tower Bridge. This

Italian restaurant is also the beginning

of Rohan and Pooja’s (Kareena Kapoor)

flirtation, and where she agrees to help

him reunite their family. Rohan moves

into Rahul’s Hampsteadhouse soon

after. Here, he teaches Rahul’s son

and his classmates the Indian national

anthem, which they then perform for

the annual day function—a scene shot

at the Osterley Park and House, one

of the largest green, open spaces in

London. A visit to the mega-shopping

complex Bluewaterin Kent though is a

real fan’s deal, with its 330 stores and

a 17-screen theatre. An hour away from

the main city, it is pivotal to the movie.

It is here that Rahul is reunited with

his mother, Nandini (Jaya Bachchan),

after a decade of separation. I tear up

every time.

Director Yash Chopra’s last movie

before he died, Jab Tak Hai Jaan

(2012), was predominantly shot in

London too. Starring SRK, Anushka

Sharma and Katrina Kaif, the movie

is as much a love song to the city as

it is about Khan and Kaif character’s

journeys. Samar (SRK) meets

Meera (Kaif ) when she comes to the

19th-century All Saints Church in

Blackheath, one she’s oddly attached

to. He sings for money at the buzzing

trade district Canary Wharf, and poses

with Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman’s

statue at St Pancras Station. Samar

romances Meera across the city during

the song “Saans”—in Covent Garden’s

colourful alley Neal’s Yard, in a Hyde

Park turned autumn-russet, in a

red telephone booth. The elegantly

decked-up couple swirl under the

glass dome of Syon Park’s neoclassical

Great Conservatory and frolic around

Somerset House’s lit-up, burbling

fountains. The duo sizzles in the dance

number “Ishq Shava,” shot

at night in the graffiti-brimming

Banksy Tunnel in Leake Street, and

at Trinity Buoy Wharf, a creative

hub bursting with art studios and

exhibitions. In one of the behind-the-

scenes videos, Chopra states that he

could’ve shot the movie anywhere,

but he wanted the story to be set in

London. I can see why.

Butler's Wharf

Banksy Tunnel

Jab Tak

Hai Jaan

Dilwale Dulhaniya

Le Jayenge