Journey through Shah Rukh Khan European Trail - Jab Tak Hai Jaan in London

London neither needs an introduction nor a long blog on “things to do” as it has been explored enough by so many people that list out famous spots to cover on hop-on hop- off tour like the Big Ben, London Eye, Palace of Westminster, Tower bridge, Wax museum, Lords, Harrods etc etc. Thats a long list. Though we covered most of those places on the hop-on hop-off, the sole objective with which I visited London was to cover Jab Tak Hai Jaan and portions of DDLJ :) It was sad that in all this effort we also became victims to theft from backpack while walking through the crowd near London Eye. So tourists beware!

Jab Tak Hai Jaan is one movie that has covered most parts of London and a bit of outskirts of the same extensively. An ardent SRK fan can't walk through London without being reminded of various scenes from the movie. Most of the parts of Challa song were shot at various spots starting at Trafalgar Square and then covering Canary Wharf, St Pancras Railway station, Hungerford and Golden Jubilee bridges, Borough market. If you use public transport in London and love walking, all of these can be covered within a day. All these spots are always buzzing with people providing a very similar environment to what is shown in the movie. I got to put on my headphones and even sing the song walking through these places :)

The other popular song in the movie “Saans” is also shot in London locations covering Somerset house looking beautiful with fountains at night and the typical red London telephone booth. Unfortunately renovation work was in progress at Somerset house providing an obstructed view of the location. Marble Arch in front of which Shahrukh and Katrina play guitar is a popular spot especially on hop-on hop-off tour buses where one could hop off and also enjoy a walk through Hyde Park where some part of “Heer” song was shot. All these locations of the song can again be covered in much less than a day.

After covering all these locations, we had an entire day at London to enjoy the cruise and visit locations like Buckingham palace, Harrods etc. The very famous “The Lion King” show is a must watch on everyone’s list and it needs a caveat to book early enough as last minute the tickets can get really expensive ( Revenue Management at play). This was one checkbox that could not be ticked on our list.

Overall, London would make you feel like any other highly populated city where people are busy working and wouldn’t give that much of a holiday feeling unlike other European locations where you wonder what people do for a living when you see them relaxing with a beer at any time of the day, closing all shops at 6 PM to enjoy a drink in the evening and take a jog in the park at 12 PM. Really unheard or unimaginable for people spending most of their lives on road midst of traffic in Bangalore. Now that I am back here doing that, I better get acclimatised again.