Yash Chopra has helmed many a masterpiece but this one must be bracketed into a league of its own
By Mehre Alam
A lot many of us have had our Lamhe moments, haven’t we? Few would lay it open, though.
Many, of course, must still be having these moments right now. Very much like the two avatars of the protagonist – the young one, and the other a middle-aged, greying, brooding being with a deep grouse for life and the lamhe (moments) he believes had robbed him of all his chirpiness, leaving him dejected, empty, forlorn, lost.
Yash Chopra has helmed many a masterpiece but this one is in a league of its own.
Yesterday, Lamhe, one of the all-time iconic movies, turned 30. The movie first hit the screens on 4th November 1991.
While it didn’t exactly set the box on fire on its release – it went on to earn a decent ₹20 crore, which boils down to the equivalent of ₹146 crore or US$19 million in the year 2020.
Film critics often describe Lamhe as a classic that was, perhaps, much ahead of its time when it was made.
Scripted by Masoom Raza, who left for his heavenly abode just a couple of months after its release, Lamhe was listed among the top 10 romantic movies of 100 years, on the occasion of the Centenary of Indian Cinema in the year 2013.
Much water has flown down the Thames – this film, after all, was shot in London, and of course across picturesque locations in Rajasthan – but the tide of altruistic love that it paints may have remained stuck in time, in the same very lamhe (moments).
As a young man, Virendra ‘Viren’ Pratap Singh (Anil Kapoor) falls madly in love with Pallavi (Sri Devi) who is older than him. While it’s the first flush of emotions for the young man, the woman – as was expected in our times – considers him a friend, nothing more, she has already found her match.
Realistically, as stunningly beautiful a woman as Pallavi, and already in the very marriageable age, wouldn’t have waited for a younger suiter to come forward, propose, and then expect a ‘yes’. Please note that this narrative comes from one that has already hit his 50th summer plus four more so that’s the way it used to be back then, this writer can vouch for this.
One knows of at least scores of close buddies that met with this very fate. They became mama (uncle) to the kids of the women they loved.
One is not a love guru so one doesn’t know, nor can one make a smart guess about the current state of the world of cupid, one can only assume that social media, smart phones etc. have changed the rules of the game.
But back then it was a lost battle right from the word go. And lo and behold, if the woman of your attention happened to be a senior, then forget it man, you might have had to count your chances close to zilch — they would readily run into zero point zero something, something!
Cut to Viren, our friend. (Didn’t we know of so many Virens among us?) After losing his love to someone “more compatible”, he leaves Rajasthan to head back to where he came from – London.
After those soul-crushing lamhe, the movie snakes to the other – very, very dramatic side.
Pallavi and her other half perish in an accident leaving behind their lone child, a daughter (also played by Sridevi), and it’s Viren who takes up the responsibility for her upbringing. But this girl kicks up a storm in Viren’s life as she falls for him. It’s this side that we found ourselves very uncomfortable with, and it’s this reason that critics found the film ahead of its time.
By the time the audience were, perhaps, more ready for such a theme, came films like Nishabd (a 2007 flick directed by Ram Gopal Varma, starring Amitabh Bachchan and late Jiah Khan), Cheeni Kum (again a 2007 romance film, directed by R. Balki and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal etc.).
More such flicks have followed since Nishabd, Cheeni Kum. But back then in the year 1991, it was obviously very brave of Yash Chopra to delve into such a theme.
Aside from the script and the brilliant performances by the cast, Lamhe is also remembered for the tapestry of its visuals – the majestic, breathtakingly beautiful locales, especially the scenes filmed in Rajasthan, they are simply soothing to the soul.
Sometimes the visuals are so appealing they almost give you the feel of a miniature painting.
Time for the punchline: Such Lamhe are rare. They are worth preserving.
Mehre Alam is a senior journalist currently working as a Consulting Editor with the Qatar Tribune newspaper. He has worked in leadership positions at publications in India and abroad including Hindustan Times, Khaleej Times, The Times of Oman etc. He can be reached at mehrealam@gmail.com
All of us have such ‘lamhe’ in life worth preserving and your writing on such classic do enforce the magic of such lamhe of each individuals. This write-up would have been better read if you would have connected to one of yours lamhe. Thank you for bringing our romantic fantasies alive at this age by going down the words of this article.
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