All that rain and dance
ZIYA US SALAM
This monsoon, let's take a trip down memory lane, recounting Hindi filmmakers' interesting use of rain, now appealing, now titillating. From "Shri 420" to "Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya", it is raining songs.
RAIN RAIN DON'T GO AWAY Kareena Kapoor drenched to de-stress? A scene from Sudhir Mishra's "Chameli".
Even as the Capital soaks in every drop of rain, the mind's eye goes back to Raj Kapoor-Nargis starrer "Shri 420". Long before some prophylactics manufacturer aroused the best in men and women, the duo had sent the film-lovers into an overdrive of love and passion with "Pyar hua iqrar hua hai... ." And the dream merchants of Hindi cinema have never looked back. Rain, beautiful and soothing, sensuous and romantic, has always found takers in our cinema. Be it "Chhatri na khol ud jayegi... " in the '70s where the hero and the heroine ran themselves wild, or Sushmita Sen in "Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya" released this past week, it has been raining songs. And cinemagoers have lapped it up, at times pushing up the sales of the music - as in "Afsana Pyaar Ka", at others, actually making the film a box office hit - as in "Roti Kapda Aur Makaan" or "Maa".
Yes, there have been nice little stop-over points like "Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si..." or the more recent "Ghanan ghanan" in "Lagaan". But amidst all the changing notes, rain, perennial and peerless, has never failed to enthuse our filmmakers. The English literature might equate it with pathos and gloom, our poets, lyricists and directors have only seen hope and rejuvenation. Though of course, not many have been averse to use the rain for titillation, pure and simple. And when rain has not been a possibility, the waterfall has come in handy - remember Raj Kapoor's "Ram Teri Ganga Maili" which sent temperatures soaring with Mandakini in a translucent white sari or the more recent "Main Hoon Na" where Sushmita Sen did her best in hot pants under a waterfall! Avers Sudhir Mishra who drenched Kareena Kapoor to her last bone in "Chameli" last year, "Usually the rain is used for titillation. There is not much profundity involved in it. However, in 'Chameli', the song 'Kehta hai man mera' was used as a means of de-stressing for the heroine."
Laments Nida Fazli who penned "Hoshwalo ko khabar kya... " in "Sarfarosh", "Poets are not needed in the film industry. The period of Sahir Ludhianvi, Shailendra and Kaifi Azmi is gone. Anybody can write these days. There is hardly any poet, market mein har cheez chalti hai. Today's lyricists are not properly educated. Earlier, they knew Hindi and Urdu. Now the composers don't know the language. They cannot discern. There is tukbandi in the name of love and rain. Ishq ko badnaam kar diya hai... . There are semi-naked costumes, there are commercial constraints. The true poet has died."
Incidentally, while "Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya" with Sushmita in a rain dance, may be raking it rich at the box office but Fazli is embittered. The reason? "Sameer has lifted part of my nazm published in the book 'Mor Naach' in 1978 for the song, 'Bada maza aaya ladai mein ke toot gayi choori kalai mein'." He has taken legal recourse. Meanwhile, Bollywood continues with its dripping spree.
Tradition too
Says renowned poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar, "Rain is an integral part of our tradition and culture. India is predominantly an agrarian society. Our people still live in villages so its predominance is paramount. Our crops depend upon rains and so rain is our lifeline. Hence, we celebrate rain. For us, it is a source of joy, happiness, optimism, destination, future and so on. Music also celebrates rain. Rain is lesser celebrated in our films and more in our lives. Didn't we hear sawani gaana, don't we celebrate rains over pakodas and chai?"
He, however, admits, "Our films have twisted its significance a bit. Rain, which is actually an innocent expression of joy, is turned into a vulgar expression. Just compare the rain song of 'Do Bigah Zameen', which is sung in expectation of rain, and the songs today, which are deliberately put to show skin. Woh innocence aur simplicity kahain peeche rah gayi hai." Incidentally, Akhtar himself penned "Ghanan ghanan" for "Lagaan" just like the song "Haryali sawan dhol... " in "Do Bigah Zameen".
Then there have been other filmmakers like Vidhu Vinod Chopra who wove poetry around rainfall with "Rim jhim, rimjhim" in "1942: A Love Story". Or Rahul Rawail with "Badal yun garajta hai" in "Betaab". Or for that matter, Yash Chopra in "Lamhe" where Lata Mangeshkar sought to bring alive the joy of monsoon in "Megha re megha".
But the use of rain as a symbol of hope and resurgence has been more in aberration than norm. Otherwise, Hindi cinema just seems to use the rainfall to cater to the basest instincts. Just the other day, seasoned filmmaker Amol Palekar introduced rain in the desert, courtesy ghost in "Paheli". The whole village was dry, only the heroine, Rani Mukerji, had rainfall in her courtyard, giving a new twist to that timeless couplet, "Ab ke sawan khoob shararat mere saath hui."
But Rani was merely walking the path taken by the likes of Zeenat Aman, Hema Malini, Sridevi, Jayaprada, Neelam, Raveena Tandon, and Vijayantimala, Nargis and Sadhana, etc much before them.
Who can forget Zeenat Aman in "Hai hai ye majboori, ye mausam aur ye doori" in Manoj Kumar's "Roti Kapda Aur Makaan"? Or Hema Malini in "Zindagi ki na toote ladi" in "Kranti". Or Kajol in "Mere khwabon mein jo aaye", the timeless number of "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge". And Lara Dutta with all her chiselled features in "In the rain on the roof" in "Masti", panned by critics last year!
Of course, the poetry was better, the picturisation more aesthetic at the time of "Sujata" or "Kala Bazar" with "Rim jhim ke tarane le ke aayi barsaat".
Just as there was a nice melody halt with "Barkha rani zara jam ke barso" and "Barsaat mein tum se mile hum". Not to forget those avoidable peek points in "Meri Chhatri ke neeche aaja kyun bheegi Salma khadi khadi" or "Aaj lapat jayen". As Fazli said, "Shair ka waqt khatam ho gaya hai". It continues to pour.
Cricket
Anupamaa
