Monday, May 31, 2010

Love in Bollywood

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Love in Bollywood - when I got this topic, very first thought that crossed my mind was the interpretation of it. I was confused whether to choose real life love stories or reel life love stories. Well, there is not much of a difference between them as few of them are very dramatical and cliched in real as well as reel life. Movie buff that I am, I decided to go for the latter one.

Who can forget the legendary "On Screen" couple Raj Kapoor and Nargis singing "Pyaar hua Ikraar hua hai" under one umbrella. There was Nargis; reluctant to go close to Raj Kapoor; shy, elegant and still managed to create the magical moment of love and attraction.

Like it happens in most of the bollywood movies, a scene change takes place - the Villain enters. Since this scene is playing in my head (now, ain't I brilliant?), the villain turns out to be Raveena Tandon singing "Tip Tip barsa Paani" from the movie Mohra and trying really hard to seduce Akshay Kumar by dancing in the artificial rain in a chiffon saari. The latest movies do not differentiate between love and lust; but let me stick to the former one!

In the Sixties and Seventies, love was defined in a different manner. Hero and heroine went behind the bush to hide from the world, or the moving leaves meant that they were expressing their love for each other, wo palke jhukana aur sharmana, Kahin pe nigahe kahi pe nishana, sending love letters to each other and such.

Then the Eighties era started with "Ek Duje Ke liye" and "Love Story". So many couples committed suicide after watching Ek Duje Ke liye; and after watching Love Story, they eloped. We did take movies seriously; to an extent that dying for our love "because Vasu and Sapna did so" was a small thing.

Nineties saw many couples making a hit "on screen" pair - Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit, Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon, Anil Kapoor-Shridevi to name a few; but none became as popular as Shahrukh-Kajol. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge set an example of a perfect love story. It won the hearts of 99% of Indian movie lovers (I fall in that 1% category)


These days, love stories start in exotic locations and end with a bed scene that creates a lot of controversies and gives publicity to the movie. Not only a reel life love story is used for the fame, but in real life too a break up or a patch up between two co-stars happens before the release of their movies.


Like the movies, these actors and actresses have had a lot of twists in real life too. Sanjeev Kumar was madly in love with Hema Malini. But she did not love him, so he remained bachelor all his life, Parveen Babi went mad literally as Amitabh Bachchan did not marry her, Nargis broke up with Raj Kapoor and married Sunil Dutt instead as he saved her life from the fire that erupted on the sets of Mother India.

And we thought such things happen only in movies. Such love stories exist in real life too. Bollywood truly lives by its reputation of extremity in everything especially in case of love.

PS: To convey the feelings of true love, I have used certain Hindi words. The translation is:

wo palke jhukana aur sharmana, Kahin pe nigahe kahi pe nishana - eyes lowered down, feeling shy, looking somewhere and targeting somewhere else.

This expression is used as in those days, a lady never made any eye contact to the person she loved out of respect and shyness. 

45 comments:

  1. Neha this is really good one .. brings bak a lot of memories .. I dont know if u cud say good old days .. But really you summed it really nicely .. ALL the best for the competition..

    and kya baat hai woh pake jhukana.. kahin pe nigahen kahin pe nishana..

    I loved reading this article really .. Nice one :)

    BEST OF LUCK

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  2. Nice article about the transformation of love in bollywood.. Enjoyed reading it.. :)
    BTw didn't know about the Sanjeev Kumar reason for being a bachelor..

    Thanks for the enlightenment.. :)

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  3. yeah neha...u r rt..
    the stories of nowdays irritate sometimes...
    and ur coolection of hindi movies is very good..
    and at last, a very good post....
    aur haan...
    keep visiting my blog...

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  4. you havent included..amitabh and rekha..what chemistry they showed in Silsila...

    Today love is more lust.

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  5. As I said, even if you belong to that 1% categoery, you have portrayed Love and the Indian Cinema beautifully! :)

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  6. not yet read..
    but would love to know abt the gifts - given by Bollywood heros to their heroines!! (lol)

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  7. Pyar Hua ikrar hua is one of my all time favorites. The grace, the thirst...all depicted in that facial expression.

    You have neatly explained the love stories of each era. Now there's nothing like love...its a passe :-)

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  8. Kya comparison hai ekdum appropriate Nargis-Raj Kapoor & Akshay-Raveena ...true classic love stories are missing now-a-days but I think the bollywood reflects the social structure of the society as well...

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  9. Well written and truly brought back those scenes! Waise, I didn't know about the Parvin Babi wala chapter. And you have to read 'The making of Sholay' to know the love stories of Dharmendra-Hema and Amitabh-Jaya. You'd love the book being the movie buff you are :)

    And yes, I too did not get enthralled by DDLJ! It was a good watch though.

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  10. lot of memories in the post! time travel of sorts through movies.. good one! :)

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  11. Very interesting view point and nice chronology of love in Bollywood. Oh yes, Bollywood has changed and so have the love stories over a period of time.
    Didn't knew that aspect of Sanjeev Kumar!!

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  12. Different take on love in bollywood... But very nicely written! :)

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  13. Really nice post...you have brought back a lot of memories..especially getting drenched in the rain and the 'Kahin pe Nighahen kahin pe nishana' :)

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  14. Nice and Nostalgic!! :)
    Reading this post, I don't believe that you were among THAT 1% who didnt like DDLJ...man!!...from stealing beer cases in UK to feeding the doves in apna Punjab, all in 3 hrs time...wat more can one ask for? :P
    Good one and all the best! :)

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  15. nice write up...old was gold..no touching required and yet the story could be told... :))

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  16. loved it. your take on the subject is good. I agree. Rekha and Amitabh rocked.. missing the duo here.
    best wishes

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  17. Liked it! And how true! Movies used to inspire people so much, and they still do! Especially teenagers! Well written. All the Best :)

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  18. A lovely walk through the last few decades.. with beautiful memories :-)

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  19. I haven't watched DDLJ and don't wanna watch. Anyway nice post. I liked your take on the topic. :)

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  20. Ah. Nostalgic. Brought back memories of Bollywood I've grown up with. Could relate to it well. :) And you didn't like DDLJ? Really? I'm not a SRK fan, but I could sit through his craziness, and still feel warm watching that movie. :D

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  21. aahhh...masssttt...that was nostalgia indeed :D
    raj kapoor nargis is like eternal jodi :D

    and dont u think it was anil kapoor madhuri that had more chemistry than madhuri-sanju or anil-sreedevi...

    ekdum mast post :D

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  22. A whole documentry could be made out of your post... bollywood love stories portrayed really well.

    Cheers!
    Tavish

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  23. I agree with you, Neha. The concept of love has undergone a huge change in Bollywood. But movies these days only protray the lives of the rich and westernised Indians. Among the middle class love in real life is still somewhere between the 70's - 80's films. Nice post:)

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  24. really nice article Neha...
    but as curious as U have been: Why don't you like DDLJ?

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  25. I liked the way you bought the entire history of bollywood's real and reel life together for this topic. Nice thought!

    I actually learnt a few things from that post...

    :)

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  26. like the narration
    and pic is great.

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  27. I wonder, what if ppl got really really inspired from bollywood and started running around trees and singing-dancing in real lives... !!

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  28. The exceptions of one century are common things of next century.
    So, it is quite relative and evolving bollywood reflecting the contemporary periods and societal cultures

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  29. Whoaa Neha! Some analysis there re.
    The way you've started it, and the villain entering and all. The comparison made sense. But on the contrary, I kinda liked the villain. :D :D
    The only two love stories I've ever liked are the love story between Howard Roark and Dominique Francon in The Fountainhead, and Erich Segal's Love Story. Apart from these two, no movies have impressed me. In fact they are so yucky I can't even watch for half hour. :P And I'm sure you'll agree with me on this. ;)
    The info you've provided is damn interesting. Didn't know about most of them.
    Excellent article.
    All the best! :)

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  30. And the Farookh Sheikh Deepti Navl type of love. Films by Hrishikesh Mukheri were so light. Now its a effort to watch some movies.:)

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  31. Great. I am not sure if this is based on a research or your love for Bollywood.But, it is a very nice post though you missed Rishi Kapoor-Neetu Singh romance and Vinod Khanna-Amrita Singh story.

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  32. Very informative and a total no nonsense analysis with a good overall direction - not getting too lost in the nostalgia.

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  33. Very informative and a total no nonsense analysis with a good overall direction - not getting too lost in the nostalgia.

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  34. It's quiet surprising that you fall in the 1% No-DDLJ category. Anyways, this was a good landscape of Hindi Cinema and that too within a limited wordcount!

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  35. Great post girlie :D guess what! yours was the first post I read but I couldnt comment yest. loved the nostalgic take on it. I dint know lot of things that you have mentioned here about Sanjeev Kumar. I belong to the 99% :)

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  36. @ Bikram, thank you and thank you and thank you :)

    @ Sushobhan, thank you very much..my mother had told me the story of Sanjeev Kumar :)

    @ Shekhar, thank you..

    @ Antarman, there are 100s of great on screen couples..I wanted to mention the trend setters thus not included AB and Rekha :)

    @ G, lovers do have differences right? ;)

    @ Arvind, why don't you write about it?

    @ Insignia, can't agree more with you..thanks girl.. :)

    @ D-man, i think bollywood provides more entertainment than anything else..and aren't we happy with this? :)

    @ Neha, I wanna read making of Sholay asap now..I know their love stories btw..Dharmendra converted to get married to Hema and even AB and Jaya story :) I am a bigger movie buff than I come across :P

    @ Leo, welcome here..thank you for your comments :)

    @ Shilpa, thanks buddy..Sanjeev Kumar story - very few know :)

    @ Nivedita, welcome here and thank you for your comments :)

    @ LP, thank you girl :)

    @ Sree, welcome here..thank you for your comments..errrr, i had a word with your tribesmate Guria and she told me all about your love for SRK :P

    @ Pushpee, welcome here..thank you for your comments..I totally second you :)

    @ Tiku, I have included trend setter love jodis here..couldn't have mentioned more..post boring ho jaati na :P

    @ Pooja, welcome here..thank you for your comments :)

    @ Pal, hugs :)

    @ Nethra, thank you :)

    @ Sudhakar, welcome here..I hate SRK and DDLJ too :P

    @ Meghna, though Anil and Madhuri gave many hits, but Sanju and Madhuri looked hot :D

    @ Tavish, whoa, that's some compliment buddy..thanks :)

    @ Saroj, agreed completely..thanks buddy :)

    @ RSV, I don't like it cos I found it too cliched and artificial and overboard :D

    @ Neha, thanks buddy :)

    @ sm, thank you :)

    @ PNA, I want your wish to come true :D

    @ Mahesh, indeed!

    @ Karthik, I know you would like the villian ;) ah Atlas Shrugged - how can i forget that! I wish it was Novel Love Story :P thanks buddy :))

    @ Lama, agreed..Chamko powder - remember? :)

    @ BK Chowla, the post would have been too long and boring..maybe a part two of this post? :)

    @ TF, welcome here..thank you for your comments..and the compliments - another thank you :)

    @ Arif, welcome here..thank you for your comments..I don't like SRK and DDLJ at all! :P

    @ Avada, hugs girlie :)) thank you for liking the post..I loved yours too :))

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  37. Very nicely written...DDLJ is the only film which I can patiently sit and watch...

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  38. That was a very interesting analysis. The depiction of love, has changed in so many ways, hasn't it? You reminded me of a lot of old movies :)

    Lovely post! All the best for the contest.

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  39. Hey, nice post, you BPL guys are doing great. Its wonderful and Filmi..lol.

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  40. Seems like we something in common - I thought DDLJ was merely a collage of good scenes picked from various movies.

    Lamhe stood out as an original and a far better love story.
    Note the character similarities of Anupam Kher in both the movies.

    Well written post.

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  41. @ GV, errr, I don't have patience for this movie at all :P

    @ Smitha, welcome here..thank you for your comments..wish you luck too :)

    @ Vivek, thanks.. :)

    @ Gyanban, DDLJ is an ok movie..Lamhe was a wonderful movie according to me..I love the simplicity as well as complexity of it..thank you :)

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  42. And you did two topics for BPL?
    That's great.
    I don't have much to stay here as I am allergic to old hindi movies (the new ones are better) :D

    But, as far as I could understand, it's nice :)

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  43. Hi! Neha

    Old or new...bolywood lovestories are mostly masala movies....and the one which i still watch is Dilse...
    nice write up :)

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  44. Well... never liked DDLJ.. found Rangeela more entertaining... Movies represnt the time period...

    and love aaj kal represnted this time difference quite diffirently and the fact that love remains the same only the way of expressing it and saying it out has changed

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  45. Hey Neha,
    Come across the blog through Indiblogger. Cool blog you have :)

    But I was forced to comment when I read you said you were among the 1% who didnt like DDLJ! May I request you to re-watch the movie (wid a 1995 mindset of course :D) and then re-consider your opinion? You might be missing something :)

    And,just wondering,do you watch Naruto?

    Cheers!

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