A masterpiece. Review on Lamhe - Bollywood

Whether you like them or not, you just can’t ignore them…Lamhe is one such movie. Though it bombed at the Indian box-office, it was critically acclaimed the world over. Yash copra’s tout direction complimented by Shiv-Hari’s stirring music are few of the highlights of this great movie. And if that’s not all, you have scintillating performances by seasoned actors like Sridevi, Anil Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman and Anupam Kher.

‘Lamhe was born much before’ is what Yash said in his interview with Karan Johar, but he was waiting for a super hit to make a movie which he knew would be a mile-stone in the history of Indian cinema. During the making of Chandni, he happened to narrate the story to Sridevi, who jumped at the idea and expressed her desire to be the part of the movie and the rest is history. Sridevi looked no less a goddess of eternal beauty in Chandni and after doing a movie like this, nobody can even think of making a woman look more beautiful, therefore, there was no question to make Sridevi look beautiful, the main question was to make her act so well that the entire art culture would compare her to the likes of Madhubala and Meena Kumari.

I am not the right person to make any comments on it, but I know if Sri wasn’t better than anyone of these great actresses, she wasn’t any less either. Through Lamhe, Sri proved once again that no actress of her time even came close to her in the department of beauty, acting and dancing. Karan Johar had once mentioned that during the premier when the movie ended there was a standing ovation, one of its kind. Unfortunately, the movie flopped, eventually killing all the hopes of the entire cast. It was a big blow for the director who is one of the finest film-makers Indian film industry ever had.

But everything wasn’t black, the movie emerged as the biggest grosser in overseas markets, which was then not as well established as it is in present times. The music was a rage among the masses. And as destiny would have it, it attained a cult character and is looked upon as Yash Chopra’s best till today.

A trade analyst had once said, "Everything in the movie was great except its bold theme, which, the Indian audience couldn’t take in. Had it been released now, I am sure it would have earned ten times the money spent on it and would have surpassed any art form in its beauty."

A simple love story, which starts off as a love triangle eventually unfolds into a tragedy which further surprises the audience by its beautiful imagery of love. Yash chopra is no less than a poet, a painter who dared to paint a beautiful movie like this without apprehensions and bowing down before the pundits who actually urged him to change the end of the movie, but director just said, "If I change the movie then I won’t be able to make the movie I set out to direct."

Lamhe is not just a movie, these are moments of love, beauty, innocence, varied emotions packed in a single flick by a director who would be remembered for this movie till human race persists.

Just like Gurudutt’s Pyaasa, this movie will be remembered as a classic and art students around the globe would watch it with same curiosity and approach as we watch ‘My fair lady’ or ‘Pather Panchali’ today.

One department of the movie that is actually less talked about and heard over and over again is its music. May it be Rajasthani folk music well adjusted into the song ‘Morni baaga ma’ or the bhajan ‘Mohe chedo naa’ or the beautifully crafted song ‘kabhi mein kahoon’, they are all so beautiful that one can’t stop falling in love with them.

Another department that needs applause is the costumes. Believe it or not, even today the Rajasthani costumes of this movie are in great demand in India. Unlike the white salwaar kurta of Chandni, they might seem a little different but isn’t the beauty of the costumnes lie in the fact that they were different.

Now, before I end my words of praise about the movie, I would just like to thank the director for making the movie and not getting swayed by the comments and criticism that was actually thrown upon him by many who thought the movie was senseless. Had he not made the movie, we would have never got to watch the splendor of Indian cinema in the modern times.