Swiss honour for 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' team

Mumbai, Oct 4 (IANS) "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge', the 1995 Bollywood blockbuster shot extensively in Switzerland, was given a rare Swiss recognition here.

The Consulate General of Switzerland in Mumbai organised a formal dinner to felicitate the unit of the Yash Chopra super hit for its successful running for over 500 weeks.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan was the chief guest at the event held Tuesday evening in Hotel Taj Lands End. Marco Solari, Switzerland Tourism Board member, was the guest of honour.

The Ambassador of Switzerland in India, Dominique Dreyer, and the Consul General in Mumbai, Josef W. Eisele, welcomed the guests.

They presented mementos to Yash and the main leads in the film - Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol - and singing legend Lata Mangeshkar, who sang some of the hit songs of the film.

Mandira Bedi, Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher, Satish Shah, Parmeet Sethi and Achala Sachdev, who had acted in the film, were also awarded.

Late lyricist Anand Bakshi's award and that of Amrish Puri were collected by their spective sons.

"Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge", the first Hindi blockbuster to feature non-resident Indians, was directed by Aditya Chopra and had won a national award.

"Yash Chopra's Romance with Switzerland", a short film reminiscing the producer-director's love affair with the scenic country set the tone of the evening followed by a performance by Bollywood's choreographer Shiamak Davar and his troupe.

The next surprise of the evening was a huge cake in the shape of a cowbell, specially flown in from Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse's renowned Confisserie Sprungli.

A three-metre long Alp horn was presented to Yash Chopra.

Cyril Jost, from Film Location Switzerland, announced scouting trips for Indian producers for new shooting locales in Switzerland. Urs Eberhard, executive vice president Markets & MICE - Switzerland Tourism, said: "We have an office here which can provide information on locations in destination Switzerland to any filmmaker from India."

Other film personalities spotted at the event were Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Mumtaz, Nitin Mukesh, Mukesh Bhatt, Vashu Bhagnani, Boney Kapoor his wife Sridevi.

Bipasha Basu provided the glamour quotient and Mumbai's business world was represented by Mahendra Sanghi, Simone Tata, Gautam Singhania, S. Ramadorai and Ashok Hinduja.

Delegates from Switzerland Tourism, Urs Eberhard, executive vice president, and Federico Sommaruga, director-India, were the other hosts.

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Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge