The cool climes of Himachal Pradesh are a ‘nature’al choice for Hindi films, for its lush forests, verdant vistas, curvaceous valleys, snowy mountains, quaint cottages and skies drowned in rich blue are a dream fulfilled for the merchants of celluloid sapne. The snow-clad peaks etch the perfect contrast to the simmering romantic passions, and the picture perfect beauty adds to the aesthetic quotient of a film.

Himachal Pradesh nestles, as its name suggests, in the aanchal of the majestic Himalayas, and has been captured and immortalised in many a Hindi film. There are even two films named after them - the black-and-white romantic musical hit Love In Simla, which was a jubilee hit in 1960 and introduced Hindi film buffs to major stars like Joy Mukerji and Sadhana, and the 1969 action film from Jugal Kishore, Simla Road. And Love In Simla also lived up to its name when director R.K.Nayyar fell in love with his reel heroine Sadhana amidst the romantic environs of Simla!
Maybe Shimla (as it is now spelt) was not as omnipresent as Kashmir in the 60s and 70s - but nevertheless its famous Mall Road with the Christ Church backdrop, the township’s panoramic view, it’s lovely winding roads and its landmarks like Wildflower Hall have adorned many a Hindi film, either as a part of the narrative or as the location for songs.

Apart from Love In Simla, my earliest recollection of Shimla on screen is of a dreamy Dev Anand hunting for Nutan on a misty night, crooning the unforgettable S.D.Burman-Hasrat Jaipuri-Mohammed Rafi beauty “Tu kahaan yeh bataa, iss nasheeli raat mein, maane na mera dil diwana ...” in the 1963 Vijay Anand classic Tere Ghar Ke Saamne. Dev ambles on in his inimitable style along the streets of the hill-station, his heart on his sleeve, his ardour as hot in degree as the freezing surroundings.

Shimla is also noted for the emergence of Manoj Kumar as writer. Recollects the veteran star, “We were shooting key scenes and songs in Shimla for Woh Kaun Thi? and I remember being unhappy with the lines written in the script. I rewrote the dialogues in my hotel room, and showed them to director Raj Khosla, who did not say a word and went away. Some minutes later, he entered my room with producer N.N. Sippy and said, “There is my dialogue writer.” Manoj wasn’t officially billed as dialogue writer, but this was his first step towards his official debut as writer with Shaheed a year later.

Of course mention of this film in connection with Shimla would be incomplete without mentioning an unforgettable canvas of snows and trees echoing the haunting Madan Mohan-Lata gem, “Naina barse rimjhim rimjhim ...”. Then we have Sharmila Tagore and Shashi Kapoor laying the foundation for the heart-tugging drama that follows an accidental lovechild in Manmohan Desai’s Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973). The skating rink thaws the ice between them with the Kishore-Lata ‘roothna-manaana’ duet, “Waada karo nahin chhodogi tum mera saath ...”, and that is just a step away from one of those instant pregnancies that abound in Hindi cinema!

Among the many other films that have featured Shimla are Maya Memsaab, that surrealistic Ketan Mehta saga which holds a sad memory for Shah Rukh Khan - he was shooting there when he heard that his mother was sinking, and Kareeb, the Vinod Chopra calamity in which Bobby Deol played the star-crossed lover who mends his ways, driven by his love for Neha.

Even today Shimla is a fave shooting spot, and among the films that are coming up are the breezy Milan Luthria romance Chori Chori and J.P. Dutta’s LOC-Border II, for which his massive unit recently shot there, fuelling rumors that Dutta’s script was incomplete and so most of the heroes twiddled their thumbs, and a couple of them walked out. The rumour has been since laid to rest by Ajay Devgan, who was said to be the first to have left the film!

But Himachal Pradesh has more to offer than this majestic summer capital of the British Raj era. We have Dalhousie, which housed Vinod Chopra for weeks as he canned major chunks of 1942-A Love Story’s’ romantic, action and emotional sequences, and Gadar also was partly shot there. Then snowy slopes of Kulu-Manali have been seen in so many films too. An entire set of a township was built, complete with a lala ki haveli and a marketplace, and represented Jonbad near Kargil for the recent Sunny Deol bone-cruncher Maa Tujhhe Salaam. The recent surprise success, Ye Dil Aashiqanaa was also shot there, and Ekta Kapoor’s unit have just returned from there after a Kya Pyar Karogi Mujhse shoot with Tusshar and Esha Deol.

A vast number of South Indian films too have been shot in the state after the 1965 MGR hit Anbe Vaa, and among the low-profile exotic locales of HP are Kufri, near Shimla, Chail, where the Aanch unit shot recently with Nana Patekar and Succhindra Bali; Kasauli, where Rakesh Roshan took the Koi Mil Gaya unit recently and that world-famous haven of spirituality, Dharamsala, where Nishaad, an unusual film that depicts the clash between science and spirituality, is being aptly lensed.

—Rajiv Vijaykar

Actors Prem Chopra, Parikshat Sahni, Amrish Puri and Preity Zinta who hail from the picturesque locales of Himachal Pradesh speak about their childhood days which they spent there.

PARIKSHAT SAHNI
I have two huge pictures of HP in my bedroom

When I think of Himachal Pradesh, the first thing that comes to my mind is the fantastic beauty of the state, the snow-capped mountains, the landscape, the tall pine trees, the clouds. Also the people there are so nice, well-behaved, warm and peace-loving. I don’t know whether to say this or not but marijuana is freely available there, which is why you have many people, especially foreign tourists flocking to Kulu Manali.

I spent my entire childhood in HP. After partition, when we shifted from Rawalpindi, I was enrolled in the Lawrence School at Sanawar, which is among the best schools in the world. And I am not the only one to praise my school. Rudyard Kipling has written about Lawrence School in his book Kim. As a child I was fascinated by the pine trees and would miss no opportunity to sit underneath one. All of us children were so close to nature. The teachers there too were a responsible lot and we were more close to them than our parents, since nine out of 12 months were spent at the boarding school. The teachers showed they were there for the love of the job, and not for the money. I remember all of us crying when we had to go home during vacation.

I can never forget HP. And this can be seen in the fact that I have two huge pictures of HP, one in front of my bed and one behind my bed. I keep visiting the state, and was there recently to shoot for a lovely children’s film directed by Virendra Saini. Also, my father Balraj Sahni had bought a house in Simla and we go there for our holidays.

My workplace is Mumbai, but I wouldn’t want to compare it with Himachal Pradesh. It’s like comparing a papaya with water-melon. I love Maharashtra as much as HP. Here too you have beautiful hill-stations like Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Panhala, which I often visit. Agreed Mumbai has become a hell-hole today and it needs to be cleaned. I love Kashmir too for its beauty. In fact I love the rest of India just as much.

PREM CHOPRA
Even the mud smells divine in HP

Himachal Pradesh, for me, means greenery, beautiful scenery and content and loving people. Compared to the big city, the locales are very happy there. And their happiness shows on their faces. I guess it is the weather, the environment or may be it is because people don’t have too many desires and are happy with what little they have. They know how to live within their limited budget. In Himachal Pradesh, you can feel the nature taking care of you. I would say the place has been blessed with nature. Even the mud smells divine.

I did my Matriculation from SD School, Shimla and was very active in extra-curricular activities which helped me a lot for the future. I graduated from BM College in Shimla. As a student, I did not have enough economic backing which is why I came to Mumbai to earn money. But I had done an amateur stage in college and also won the award for the best actor. So I thought I had to make a profession in acting only. Though Mumbai has given me everything, there is still a bonding with Himachal Pradesh. I would say Shimla gave me the clue to a vocation for the future.

Himachal Pradesh is responsible for my growing up process too. I was lucky to come across a great elite of people from all sections of the society there. Also there used to be the High Court and the headquarters of the Army those days. But now it is a commercial city totally.

After coming to Mumbai and after the passing away of my father two years ago, my visits to Chandigarh have become fewer. I was there lately but mainly for shootings which is when I get to visit my old riends too.

AMRISH PURI
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Himachal is Simla.

I have very pleasant memories associated with Simla. Back in the 40s and 50s the place was a haven of nature. I recall with nostalgia my many walks along the Mall road. The cool breeze caressed you and you could just walk and walk without feeling tiresome. Now of course the place is so overcrowded that one shudders to set foot there.

Back in 40s and 50s, Simla had a close knit community. The concretisation had not taken place and most of the dwellings were made of wood. I used to study in the DAV school. Mr Satyapraksh was our headmaster and he used to be a terror. I’m still awestruck whenever I recollect his persona. He had such a daunting image that mothers literally used to hide their wards when he used to set foot in a particular mohalla. Though, his tough exterior hid a simple soul that only had the welfare of children at heart.

After finishing school, I took admission in the BM College. College life was fun and I remember iceskating at a specially constructed iceskating rink at the Rivoli cinema as a collegian.
Some years ago, during the course of a shooting stint, I took time off to visit my childhood haunts and was glad to find them still standing. Though, due to the apathy of the government, the Simla I knew is gone now. It has become another concrete jungle like Bombay and Delhi. I don’t know why people go there at all nowadays because half the crowd that you yearn to get away from already reaches there before you.

I have stopped going to Simla except for professional trips but still like to visit nearby places which have not yet featured on the tourist maps. Indeed rampant tourism and thoughtless construction work is spreading all over Himachal Pradesh and I hope the government opens its eyes and stops the state’s natural beauty from being swept away under the flood of commercialisation.

PREITY ZINTA
Himachal - cool, lively like Preity

When Preity Zinta, a Miss Shimla in her time, signed her first film, Kya Kehna’ it was pure coincidence that her reel father, Anupam Kher, also happened to hail from Shimla. Ironically, the film itself was not shot there but in the South!

And yet Preity, like Anupam Kher, stands in a class by herself among her contemporaries. Here is an actress whose effervescence is matched by her intensity in dramatic roles, a thinking star who can be called Kajol’s nearest successor in mainstream roles - a perfect amalgam of star charisma, versatile brilliance and spontaneous emoting.

Whether in brief roles in non-starters like Dil Se.’, in multi-starrers like Dil Chahta Hai or in the author-backed roles of Kya Kehna, Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega and Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, the Zinta packs a solid histrionic punch and seems to symbolise the ethos of Himachal Pradesh - cool, lively, variegated - and immensely attractive.

As told to Namita Nivas, Salma Khatib, Devesh Sharma and RV

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