If you have noticed more visitors taking selfies on the Saanen bridge lately, you are not imagining it. There has been a steady uptick in Indian tourists drawn to the area because scenes in the classic 1995 Bollywood film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (“DDLJ”) were shot here.

This romantic blockbuster has held an iconic place in Indian cinema for thirty years and it is hard to overstate just how adored it is. The film follows a young couple, Raj and Simran, whose love story unfolds across Europe, including several scenes filmed right here in the Saanenland. One of the most memorable takes place on the modest bridge by Saanen station, now something of a pilgrimage site for fans.

I couldn’t tell you the number of times I have been stopped mid-walk, or even mid-run, by people asking me to take their picture as they strike the famous dance pose on the bridge. Sometimes they come in couples, sometimes in family groups. At first I was bemused, but now I expect it and don’t mind a bit. There is something rather wonderful about seeing people connect with a place through film and the Saanen bridge is now woven into Bollywood history.

The power of place
Watching all this got me thinking about why places tied to stories have such pull. Marketers call it “location awareness,” meaning a place gains power the moment a story becomes connected to it. Seeing so many visitors enact a scene from a film made decades ago shows how travel, memory and imagination can blend in powerful ways.

And, cards on the table, I am no different. When our children were young, school halfterms
often became pilgrimages to film, TV or book locations. We visited Thetford in Norfolk to recreate a scene from Dad’s Army; drove to Haworth to walk in the footsteps of Cathy and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights; and traipsed around all the filming locations in Notting Hill. One year I even researched and identified the exact route used in the opening sequence of the much-loved 1980s All Creatures Great and Small TV series. We then reenacted the drive (recording it on video for posterity), much to the bemusement of our eldest son, who could think of better things to do on his half-term holiday than wander around the cold and windy Yorkshire Dales.

So yes, I understand what brings the fans of DDLJ to Saanen. Being in the place where a favourite story was filmed brings it to life in a way that photographs or video never can.

“But Mum, which bridge?”
When I mentioned to our now-grown children that visitors were flocking to the famous Saanen bridge, their reaction was priceless. “But Mum, which bridge?” they asked, as if expecting some grand structure they had somehow overlooked, never imagining it would be the everyday bridge over the river near the station. They were completely perplexed because to them it is simply the bridge we have crossed countless times: functional, unremarkable and not particularly scenic. But that is the magic of cinema, making the ordinary iconic.

A shared curiosity
The Saanen bridge may be a plain, everyday crossing to us, but for anyone who grew up with DDLJ it carries a sense of magic. Standing there connects them to a story they have loved for decades, turning an ordinary spot into something unforgettable. It is a good reminder of how far a story can travel once it settles into people’s imaginations.

And if that means I get stopped mid-run to take another photo, I am perfectly happy to oblige. After all, it is not every day you find yourself in the middle of a global love story.

ANNA CHARLES