The picturesque landscapes of Switzerland - immortalised in many a Bollywood flick - are no longer favoured shooting destinations with Indian filmmakers. Switzerland's not-so-industry-friendly policies are proving to be big turn-off for Indian filmmakers, who are instead exploring more business-friendly nations.

The country was first favoured by Indian filmmakers way back in the 1960s when Raj Kapoor shot "Sangam" and Shakti Samanta "An Evening in Paris".

Amitava Tripathi, India's ambassador to Switzerland, told: "Switzerland is no longer a sought after destination for Indian filmmakers. It's very expensive to shoot a film here.

"East European countries like Hungary and Poland are offering attractive packages to our filmmakers. They are luring them with lower costs and bigger tax incentives. When filmmakers are getting equally beautiful locations at cheaper rates, why would they shoot here?"

It was only last year that filmmakers, from both Bollywood and other regions, started capturing virgin locations of Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Before that Switzerland was the eternal choice of Hindi, Tamil and Telugu filmmakers. On an average, 25 Bollywood movies were shot in the picturesque backdrops each year.

In fact, Switzerland's government conferred on filmmaker Yash Chopra the Swiss Filmfare Award in 2002 for promoting the country as a tourist destination. Chopra shot "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge", "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" and "Mujhse Dosti Karoge" here.

Besides luring travellers, the celluloid czars brought big business to Switzerland.

"Bollywood movies gave Switzerland tourism a big push. The films were an ideal link between Indians and the tourism department. Going by the huge popularity of Indian movies, I am sure Switzerland is losing a lot," Tripathi said.

"There are two big film industries in the world - Hollywood and Bollywood. In terms of quality or budget, Hollywood is ahead but it can never beat our film industry in terms of quantity. We make at least a thousand movies a year," he said.

The Swiss authorities are not happy to lose out on business. "But they are not able to come up with a nice package. Labour costs are high here; everything is so expensive. The government is reluctant to come up with a flexible policy."

He said many European countries are now offering technical staff and machinery to filmmakers at attractive prices. Hungary provides a 20 percent rebate on production costs. It also offers cheaper, yet highly skilled labour.

Sanjay Leela Bansali shot some scenes of "Hum Dil Chuke Sanam" in Hungary while the Aamir Khan- Kajol-starrer "Fanaa" was partially shot in Tatra mountains and Zakopane in Poland.

T.J. Joseph, marketing officer in the Indian embassy, said: "It's not just the financial part - the filmmakers are also looking for fresh locations. When they have options why would they shoot at the same place over and over again?"

Farhan Akhtar shot his big budget film "Don" in Malaysia. Karan Johar too chose Malaysia for "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" as it offers a single window clearance for processing applications for shooting.

Anurag Bose's "Gangster" was partly shot in South Korea, another region that has not been explored. Another big budget film "Dhoom II" was shot in Brazil.

The super-hit "Salaam Namaste" - shot in Melbourne - had Indian tourists heading for Australia. Yash Raj Film's "Neal N Nikki" inspired many to explore Canada beyond the famous Niagara Falls. Small island nations like the Maldives and Mauritius have also found favour with Bollywood.

So is Bollywood's honeymoon with Switzerland finally over?