Bengaluru is widely known as India’s technology capital. During our video shoot with Indian actress Nidhhi Agerwal, however, we encountered a city that refuses to be reduced to a single identity: fast and contemplative, traditional and experimental, intensely urban and unexpectedly green.

 

A feast for the senses
We first explored the city through its flavors. At Vidyarthi Bhavan, a landmark vegetarian restaurant in Basavanagudi, one of Bengaluru’s oldest neighborhoods, the specialty is masala dosa: a crisp crepe made from fermented rice and lentil batter, folded around spiced potatoes and served with chutney. The restaurant has served generations of diners since 1943, and its strong South Indian filter coffee – poured piping hot – is every bit as essential. We gave this local ritual an unmistakably SWISS twist by dipping a piece of our signature chocolate into the cup and watching it melt: a delicious bridge between Zurich and Bengaluru. From there, Gandhi Bazaar Street offered another feast, with stalls overflowing with fruit, vegetables, and flowers.

 

At KR Flower Market, Bengaluru’s largest flower market, garlands, loose blossoms, and mounds of marigolds filled the frame with orange, yellow, white, and red. This was Bengaluru at its most vivid – a place of quick hands, constant movement, and seemingly inexhaustible color.

From motion to stillness
Another side of the city emerged around Church Street and Brigade Road, where bookstores, cafés, shops, and streams of pedestrians reflect Bengaluru’s youthful, cosmopolitan energy. The conversation between heritage and modernity continued when we visited Tarun Tahiliani’s Bengaluru boutique with Nidhhi. The celebrated Indian designer combines traditional craftsmanship with fluid, contemporary silhouettes – an approach that feels at home in this forward-looking city.

That dialogue between tradition and modernity comes alive when Nidhhi appears alongside four Bharatanatyam dancers. Through precise footwork, expressive hand gestures, and stylized facial expressions, this classical South Indian dance form communicates rhythm, emotion, and story.

After the traffic, noise, and captivating chaos of the streets, Lalbagh Botanical Garden offered a place to exhale. Its paths wind among tropical plants, open lawns, and venerable trees, creating a pocket of calm that recalls Bengaluru’s enduring identity as India’s Garden City.

That sense of stillness deepened at Circle Maramma Temple, where the rhythms of worship offered an intimate glimpse of the city’s spiritual life. Our journey concluded beyond the urban center at the Isha Foundation’s Sadhguru Sannidhi near Chikkaballapura. There, set against the landscape north of Bengaluru, the 112-foot Adiyogi gave the film its final image: stillness on an immense scale.

A joyful homecoming
Guiding us through these contrasts was Nidhhi Agerwal, an actress and trained dancer who grew up in Bengaluru. After studying business management at Christ University, she made her Hindi film debut opposite Tiger Shroff in Munna Michael in 2017. She later established herself in Telugu and Tamil cinema, with the commercially successful iSmart Shankar becoming one of her best-known films.

Her work takes her across India, but Bengaluru still has the pull of home. Her family lives here, and she returns whenever her schedule permits to see family and friends. Despite her long connection to the city, this was her first shoot here – a genuine first and a joyful homecoming. Nidhhi’s familiarity with Bengaluru brought warmth and authenticity, allowing us to look beyond its landmarks and experience the city through the eyes of someone profoundly shaped by it.

 

 

More information
Beginning October 27, 2026, SWISS will connect Zurich and Bengaluru nonstop five times a week.
Flight to Bengaluru (BLR) ✈️ | SWISS