Swiss tourism industry owes a debt to Indian actress Sridevi

Sridevi accidentally drowned in her bath in a Dubai hotel Keystone

Actress Sridevi Kapoor, who recently died at the age of 54, helped popularise the trend of Bollywood song-and-dance sequences against a Swiss backdrop. More than a quarter of a million Indian tourists visit Switzerland every year, largely thanks to such exposure on the Indian silver screen. 

“Sangam”, released in 1964, was the first Indian film shot in Switzerland and the 1967 film “Evening in Paris” was the first to use the Alps as a backdrop for singing, dancing and romancing. However, it wasn’t until a couple of decades later that it all went mainstream. 

Director Yash Chopra’s 1989 film “Chandni”, starring Devi, really put Switzerland centre stage. Almost half the song-and-dance sequences in the film had a Swiss backdrop.

The movie is credited with bringing romance back into Indian films during a period when action movies were ruling the roost. This helped to inadvertently cement the image of Switzerland as a “romantic paradise” and make it popular among Indian honeymooners. 

The return of romance, Sridevi’s singing and dancing talents, the birth of a fashion trend in the form of the chiffon sari and stunning Alpine scenery created the perfect storm that is still reaping dividends for Switzerland. A total of 265,410 Indian tourists visited the country in 2016, responsible for 599,062 overnight stays.

Switzerland also had a prominent role in Sridevi’s life. Her husband Boney Kapoor, who was then married to someone else, had visited her on set during the filming of Chandni. 

“I followed her to Switzerland while she was shooting for Chandni with some excuse. The actual reason was to see her,” he revealed during an interviewExternal link in 2013. 

The couple also visited Switzerland on holiday after they were married in 1996.

Togetherness in Gstaad, Switzerland. pic.twitter.com/ZwSp2A0PEHExternal link

— SRIDEVI BONEY KAPOOR (@SrideviBKapoor) June 13, 2013External link

Sridevi’s demise was as tragic as some of her films. According to the Dubai police, she drowned in her hotel bathtub after losing consciousness on Saturday. She was in Dubai for her nephew’s wedding.