Bollywood’s Classic Valentine Moments That Remain Unforgettable

From Raj Kapoor in ‘Barsaat’ to Ranveer Singh in ‘Bajirao Mastani’, love has found different expressions in B-town.

Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma portrayed a complex relationship on screen in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

Expression of love has undergone a transformation in every decade on the big screen. In the 50s, it was often unrequited love that got celebrated as classics. In the 60s, most Hindi films were about wooing the beloved with the proceedings mostly ending in marriage. In the 70s, romance kind of took a back seat because there were bigger issues to be addressed but still no story was complete without a love angle.

The 80s and to an extent, even the nineties were similar to the 60s in which it focused on parental opposition and finding a way out of the crisis. The decade following 2000 redefined not just romance but also Indian cinema in both content and in technology.

Emotion is constant in all dramas. What alters is its expression and while the expression has a lot to do with the character, it has more to do with the creator of the character, that is the filmmaker.

As the world celebrates Valentine’s Day, here are some of my favourite romantic moments in Hindi films.

I remember the magnetic Meena Kumari expressing her woes in Ajeeb dastaan hain yeh in Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai. On a moonlit night in the middle of the sea, the heroine and her friends are celebrating the marriage of a colleague (Raaj Kumar with Nadira). It’s a tragic moment for the heroine who is silently in love with the hero and has now lost him. Her conflicting emotions are effectively portrayed through brilliant close-ups.

There is mischief in Shakeel Badayuni’s Tere husn ki kya taarif karoon in Leader, where the writer encourages lovers to flirt with each other before admitting to attraction himself. Adding to the magic is the emotional rendering of the song by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar and later, the palpable chemistry between Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala.

In Saraswati Chandra, Nutan plucks the flower from her braid and encloses it inside the letter addressed to her fiancé. Phool tumhe bheja hai khat mein is more effective than any of the heart-shaped bouquets available at the 9florists on this special day. In the same film, the hero luring the shy Kumud Sundari (Nutan) into the lotus-filled pond and singing Chandan sa badan in full-moon night, and her unabashed response to his praise is both lyrical and erotic.

On a slightly regressive note but deeply moving is a blushing Mala Sinha expressing contentment in marriage via Raja Mehdi Ali Khan’s Aap ki nazaro ne samjha in Mohan Kumar’s Anpadh. The line, ‘ji hame manzoor hain aapka ye faisla’ is about total surrender in love rendered by Lata Mangeshkar in music composed by Madan Mohan.

Images of several Hrishikesh Mukherjee films crowd my mind. An immensely sensitive Sharmila Tagore/ Anupama isolated from human contacts, feels secure amidst nature and hums Kaifi Azmi’s divine poetry Kuch dil ne kaha... Kuch bhi nahi in Anupama. Equally moving is a modest Jaya Bhaduri seated at a distance from her newly married husband Amitabh, eyes down cast, singing Teri bindiya re because display of intimacy in public would be undignified.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee was a master of middleclass romances, where the girl though attracted, is hesitant to admit it - perfectly represented by an unsure Archana wooed by a flamboyant Navin Nischol in Kishore Kumar’s evergreen number Raat kali ek khwab mein aayi in Buddha Mil Gaya. Navin understands and keeps his distance, perched on top of a rock - so simple and so stirring.

In Subodh Mukherjee’s Abhinetri, it is Shashi Kapoor and Hema Malini’s first wedding anniversary. The husband wants to call a big party while the wife wants it to be a private evening. She has seductive plans for him that begins in the bathroom and ends in the bedroom. Sajna o sajna sun kya kahe kangna is a process of seduction rather unusual for a marital love story released in 1970.

Rekha and Vinod Mehra are not the regular couple in Ghar and spend their Sunday morning expressing passion in poetry. Remember Aap ki aankhon mein kuch. Shot in natural surroundings in the morning sunlight, there is serenity in their togetherness that promises stability in the relationship.

But the most unforgettable marital moment on screen for me is the magnificent Suchitra Sen in Aandhi intimating her husband about their forthcoming baby via a telegram sent to his workplace. The husband/ Sanjeev Kumar, utterly charmed by the gesture, reciprocates with equal panache.

I’m also haunted by a drenched Shabana Azmi holding an umbrella and strolling by the lake in Basu Chatterjee’s Swami holding dew drops in her palms as Pal bhar mein ye kya ho gaya plays in the background. It is a song about a woman who has newly discovered love.

There are so many magical moments in so many movies that it is impossible to compile a perfect list. Some images from recent movies though have to be mentioned. The Peshwa wife Priyanka Chopra bathing her Rao/ Ranveer Singh in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani is not just a new expression on Indian screen but exceedingly erotic!

A still from Bajirao Mastani. 

In a more complex moment is a regretful Deepika Padukone who has unintentionally wounded boyfriend/ Ranbir Kapoor and makes earnest efforts to calm him in a cafeteria/Tamasha. But she has touched his Achilles’ Heel and Kapoor is inconsolable. And there is no way you can ever forget a hysterical Anushka Sharma nervously packing her bag after she unexpectedly bumps into her ex flame/Fawad Khan in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil - a depiction of contemporary complex relationships.

In the olden days, a Subhash Ghai would like his hero/ ShahRukh Khan to energetically drive and sing Ye dil, dil deewana in Pardes, while Mani Ratnam would make his hero/ Arvind Swamy lament in Tuhi re/Bombay. A Vidhu Vinod Chopra preferred Anil Kapoor to stroll in gardens and sing odes to Monisha Koirala’s beauty in Love Story 1942 and Imtiaaz Ali enthused Kareena Kapoor to hop out of a moving jeep and dance on the road to Ye ishq haye baithe bithaye/ Jab We Met.

Indian cinema is more than 100 years old but the expression of love has never gone out of fashion. It has altered from time to time depending on the filmmaker, so if Barsaat was pathos for Raj Kapoor, Pakeezah was poetry for Kamal Amrohi. Veer Zaara was a journey for Yash Chopra, Devdaas was passion for Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Jodha Akbar was magnificence for Ashutosh Gowariker.

The truth is that as long as there is love, there is life.

(Bhawana Somaaya has been writing on cinema for 30 years and is the author of 12 books. Her Twitter handle is @bhawanasomaaya)