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Love is a many-splendored thing

The passing of Bollywood’s veteran director 
Yash Chopra, and his unconventional take on 
man-woman relationships leaves us with the question: is the romance over? So we hope his legacy — that set new benchmarks in the dream factory — lives on

Alot of us who’ve watched Yash Chopra’s Ittefaq would probably agree that it was the best 
film he ever made; more so, because it was something of 
a first in Bollywood — a taut, edgy thriller that stayed right on track; a plausible storyline with no distractions whatsoever; minimalist sets; and terrific performances drawn out of a stellar cast.

But then, just the way Chopra didn’t experiment with cinema that had a socio-political message after the resounding flops of his first two films — Dhool ka Phool and Dharmputra — he didn’t go the desi Hitchcock-ian way, even though Ittefaq was hailed as a path-breaking piece of work.

Then there was Waqt that played out a generational saga with aplomb: it was one of Bollywood’s first movies that boasted an ense-mble cast, and, in a way, it redefined how character interplay should come across on screen.

It was with the much-vaunted triangle Daag that he found his true calling — and his moniker ‘King of Romance’ — something he would stick by for most of his career. So, even though he made the memorable Deewar, Trishul (yet another family saga with an ensemble cast, with Amitabh Bachchan possibly getting just 
the tiniest bit of headway), Kaala Pathar (the Lord Jim-esque take 
of a man’s conscience when he deserts his team, and ultimately 
redeems himself) and Mashaal 
intermittently, Chopra stuck to his guns most of the time.

While he always made compelling cinema — and, on occasion, dabbled in tackling offbeat, 
controversial issues — he ushered in his ethereal production values which will last till as long as 
romance thrives in the dream 
factory: the misty landscapes, traipses by mountainous lakesides (Kashmir and then Switzerland became preferred destinations for Indian tourists, thanks largely to a certain Yash Chopra), the gorg-eous heroines in frothy chiffons and, of course, the music. Chopra always insisted on giving lyrics equal weightage, and most of his songs tell their own story — or, at the very least, complement the cinematic circumstances.

In the chauvinistic world of 
Bollywood — it was blatantly so during the time Chopra directed his major films — he always desis-ted from commodifying women, even though his heroines were 
always ‘trophy actresses’. On screen, they all had a mind of their own, chose their life paths and, most importantly, they were never judged for their human flaws (way back in 1976, Waheeda portrayed a character in Kabhi Kabhie who got pregnant out of wedlock — but that’s not, even once, referred to as a low point in her morality). The mother was always a strong 
character (the most telling case in point is obviously Deewar and, to a certain extent Trishul, but even in a romance like Chandni, he gave layers to Waheeda Rehman’s persona, and she far exceeds her brief of being a maternal object).

But finally, everyone following the evolution of Bollywood thro-ugh the decades is thankful to Yash Chopra for giving them the lavishly-mounted licence to love... We hope the love never dies.

Kabhi Kabhie (1976)

The quintessential Chopra triangle, with a touch of uncoventionality (and unforgettable music by Khayyam): Amitabh Bachchan and Rakhee play lovers who don’t get to be together and Rakhee marries Shashi Kapoor. Many years later, they meet again: Amitabh is now married to Waheeda Rehman, and her daughter (from an earlier relationship) is in love with Rakhee and Kapoor’s son. The two former lovers are once again drawn to each other, and need to resolve their feelings in order to move on with their lives.

Silsila (1981)

Possibly Yash Chopra’s most controversial film ever — he even had to change the ending, so it fitted in with more ‘conventional’ norms. Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha re-enacted their real-life, off-screen 
romance for reel; it was reckoned that Jaya Bachchan was a sport to agree to play Amitabh’s wife, who gets cheated on. In the ‘unliberalised’ India of the early 80s, the showcasing of an unapologetic extra-marital affair in mainstream cinema didn’t go down quite well, even though crowds did throng theatres out of curiosity. Despite powerhouse 
performances by the cast, the film got its share of flak.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012)

Going by the trailer, Chopra’s last film — that will release next month — is yet another romantic triangle: Shah Rukh Khan (once again — like he did in Veer-Zaara) plays an army officer, and Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma are the two ladies in his life. In an interview with an Indian daily, Chopra had this to say about Jab Tak Hai Jaan: “My film is an emotional film. It is not comedy, action, escapism... This is what we call an internal film. There are only three characters [and] their emotions, happiness, sadness.” We can’t wait to watch it.

Ittefaq (1969)

In this edge-of-the-seat 
suspense thriller, Rajesh Khanna is accused of murdering his 
wife, and is on the run. He breaks into Nanda’s house; she’s on her own since her husband is away 
on business. He holds her at gunpoint and forces her to give him shelter. Meanwhile, the cops are out on the hunt, and things get more complicated when a dead body mysteriously appears in Nanda’s bathtub. The movie is shot like a stage-play, with no songs and no fripperies. Made you wonder why Chopra shied away from making whodunits.

Deewar (1975)

The film that immortalised “mere paas ma hain” was a departure from the Chopra love track, and put Amitabh Bachchan on the top of the heap with a final seal on his ‘angry young man’ image. This was also, in a sense, a step towards the evolution of the anti-hero, with the audience sympathy being with ‘bad guy’ Bachchan, who takes on the ‘good guy’ Shashi Kapoor, his brother. Deewar also had Parveen Babi as the smoking, drinking, live-in partner of Bachchan (unthinkable in that era) — and the movie did not judge her for a moment.

Lamhe (1991)

Not quite in the same league of controversy as Silsila, Lamhe was frowned upon by mainstream audiences because leading man Anil Kapoor falls in love with the older Sridevi — whose daughter (Sridevi in a double role), in turn, falls in love with him. In 1991, everyone called it a movie that was far ahead of its times; today, Lamhe is 
regarded as a classic. Anil Kapoor’s understated romantic nuances, and (the younger) Sridevi’s unabashed pursuit of the man she loves have been hailed as benchmark roles.

Dil Toh Pagal Hai (1997)

Shah Rukh Khan is best friends with Karisma Kapoor, while Madhuri Dixit is best friends with Akshay Kumar. Unknown to both, their best buddies are actually madly in love — something both SRK and Madhuri mistake for fondness. Then, the two fall in love, leaving behind a trail of broken hearts and subsequent pangs of guilt. Despite the corny “somewhere, there is someone made for you”, the film is remarkably mature when it tackles issues like can you go back to being friends with a person you were crazy about?

Veer Zaara (2004)

Chopra explored cross-border love in this: Shah Rukh Khan playing an Indian Army officer and Preity Zinta, a Pakistani girl whom he rescues while she’s in India. Love strikes — but their respective identities get in the way to play spoiler. As one thing leads to another, Shah Rukh is implicated falsely, and made to languish in a Pakistani jail for a couple of decades — till a legal case, fraught with Indo-Pak tensions, brings forward the moot point: love and peace, in that order. The late Madan Mohan’s music was revived for the film.

sushmita@khaleejtimes.com