Bollywood lässt Alpen glühen (2011)

Franziska is a film producer in Vienna. She has to find a suitable location for a Bollywood film crew and, with no other choice, suggests St. Maria, her home village, which she had wanted nothing more to do with. But while it was easy to get the film crew excited about the idea, convincing the residents of St. Maria is likely to be much harder for Franzi. When she arrives in St. Maria, things are clearly frosty between her and her grief-stricken father, the mayor, and her sister Vroni. She tries to persuade her father to let the filming go ahead, promises that it will bring economic benefits, and manages to win the people over to her side. Filming begins, and before long the crew asks for a traditional folk-dance group. Just before their performance, it turns out that Bruno, the “leader” of the group, doesn’t want to take part, and the others will only dance if he does too. Bruno and Franzi were once the village’s dream couple, but Franzi left St. Maria and broke Bruno’s heart. She can’t persuade him to dance, but Bruno’s funny Dutch girlfriend helps her, and at last nothing stands in the way of the Schuhplattler dancers. The villagers also gradually get used to the Indians. Only Franzi’s sister Vroni seems to resent the whole thing and tries to disrupt the filming. Even so, the mood in the village grows increasingly cheerful, and eventually the brass band gets together again for the first time in years. Bruno dances with his Dutch girlfriend, Franzi with the Indian TV star, and her father with the Indian woman. It seems to sting both Franzi and Bruno to see each other dancing with other partners. Even so, they take advantage of the situation and press close to their dance partners to make each other jealous. Amit, the Indian TV star, walks Franzi home. He is enchanted by the little village and imagines that life here must be lovely. Franzi says it would be for a child, but not once you have bigger plans for your life than going to church, getting married, and having children—she hates this village. Amit says you can’t choose your homeland, and that you can only be happy once you realize you carry it in your heart. Franzi remembers leaving St. Maria and Bruno when she was eighteen. The next day, Franzi has to show Amit the romantic quiet of the mountains, where the love scene is to be filmed. Amit is delighted by the idyllic surroundings and falls into a Bollywood reverie, imagining himself in his film. He declares that he, the secret agent, will find love here, then flirts with Franzi and stands before her with his eyes closed and lips puckered. Bruno happens to see this from a distance. Franzi does not respond to Amit’s apparent attempt to kiss her. At the inn, people talk about how the Indians are boosting business and how wonderful it would be if things worked out between Franzi and Amit. Bruno can’t take any more. When the next scene with the Schuhplattler dancers is about to be filmed, he gets into a serious altercation with Amit, which ends in a brawl between the Indians and the Styrians. When the villagers learn that Franzi chose the village only as a last resort, and that her main motivation was not to give something back to her hometown, they are disappointed in her. Her father comes to see her and they talk. They discuss the brawl, and Franzi calls Bruno a “primitive idiot,” but her father counters that Bruno loves her, and that he still asks about her every day. On her way to Bruno, Franzi runs into the furious Dutch woman, who is leaving with her suitcase. She tells Franzi that Bruno is “ouf de Berch” and says she doesn’t understand what people always want “ouf de Berch” for. Franzi finds Bruno sitting on a bench, sits down beside him, and they start talking. She says her father told her that Bruno always asks about her, and they kiss. That evening, Franzi’s father also kisses his Indian companion. He has been invited to dinner at her place and stays the whole night. When Franzi’s sister Vroni can no longer buy bread rolls at the bakery, only flatbread, she has had enough and steals two sticks of dynamite from Bruno’s shed. Bruno and Franzi wake up in the morning and notice that the shed door is open. They discover that Vroni is responsible and fear the worst. The Indians, who are due to film the love scene in the mountains that day, are already at the location, and Franzi and Bruno are sure Vroni means to get rid of them. Unfortunately, they are already too late, so the only way to intervene is via the steep Edelweiss Wall. Halfway up the Edelweiss Wall, Bruno asks Franzi if she will marry him. Franzi slips briefly and finally asks whether they could talk about it later. They arrive just in time, and Franzi decides she will talk to Vroni. Vroni is visibly agitated and says she only meant to scare the Indians. After Franzi admits to her lies, the sisters make up. Vroni falls into her sister’s arms in tears; suddenly they hear ticking—the dynamite has been lit. They can’t throw it away in time, and it explodes. Franzi finds Bruno lying on the ground, thrown backward by the blast down a small rock face, and is distraught. But he is in good condition too; he says he learned from the film crew that effects are important, and asks Franzi once again if she will marry him. She says yes, on the condition that they live in the city during the week. The film ends with Franzi’s boss from Vienna arriving in St. Maria. Once again, a dance scene is to be filmed, with Indian music and the folk-dance group as the background. But the dancers refuse: they will dance only to their traditional music. Franzi’s boss says she ought to be able to keep her people in line and that they can’t work with people like that. Franzi says they absolutely can; they just have to meet them halfway. A remix begins, combining folk music with Indian music. It is a great success and also serves as the film’s final scene.