movie review- “Lamhe”
Lamhe (1991): Lamhe is remembered as a classic cult amongst various Bollywood movies till today. It is said that the subject of the movie was ahead of time and so the movie couldn’t impress the audience at that time. I feel, it is the best romantic
movie I have ever seen in Bollywood. I have watched this movie numerous times
and I can still watch it again and again.
Yash Chopra had mentioned in his interviews how he got the idea of making Lamhe. While making Silsila in the year 80-81, he thought of making a film with a new subject (which was indeed lamhe) but everybody was scaring him saying that the movie was very dangerous to make. So he decided he’d make Lamhe only when he would have a hit movie with him. After the success of Chandni, he decided to make only Lamhe and nothing else. He said, Lamhe was a gamble for him. Many of his close ones who were associated with the film asked him to change the climax of this movie. But Yash Chopra was immovable. He said he was making the whole movie only for the climax scene. His only belief was, “in love, there is no question of age”. These are the words of the legend himself. Lamhe was very dear to Yashji. The film received huge acclaim from classes all over the world. The film got an amazing response overseas but was commercially criticized in India. When the film didn’t work at the box office, Yash Chopra was so heartbroken and disappointed that he couldn’t work for the next 6 months. But he said, he enjoyed making this movie more than anything else, mostly the outdoor shoot in London where the whole cast stayed together like a family. In the entire movie, you will smile, laugh, and get emotional but it is the climax that is the highlight of this movie. The climax is the epitome of romance. So many times I just watch the climax of this movie.
You will be amazed to know that this movie was
partially shot in palaces. The rest of the palace scenes were shot on the sets
created by art director Sudhendu Roy. It is very difficult to differentiate
between the sets and the actual palace. Amazing work! Lamhe was perfect in all
accounts including music by Shiv Hari, story by Honey Irani, and the looks of Shridevi.
The most interesting thing about the movie was the two different looks of
Shridevi. One look was completely Indian and matured, with Rajasthani costumes, and
the other was quite modern and youthful. Anil Kapoor was so keen to work in this movie
that for the first time, he shaved off his favorite signature mustache for this role. During the shoot in London, Shridevi lost her father and she had to leave
the shoot in between and visit Chennai. Only two scenes of London were left. Yash Chopra postponed the shoot and the cast and crew waited for 16 days . After coming back, the scene that she
had to perform was a comedy scene and when Yashji aksed her if she was mentally strong to perform the comedy scene she didn't hesitate for a second and said, acting was her job. Despite going through all the pain in her
personal life, she performed that scene with so much of perfection. she was a thorough professional actor. I loved the
performance of Anupam Kher and Wahida Rahman in supporting roles, especially the parody.
Music:
The music of Lamhe was excellent. Music directors, Shiv-Hari (Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia) added a Rajasthani flavor in the music of Lamhe along with light music. All the songs are beautifully sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The songs were written by Anand Bakshi. My favorite song is “Kabhi Main kahu” (Hariharan and Lata ji). Its picturization, choreography, and music, everything is too good. It's like a fantasy. The tune of this song was used as background music in Chandni back in 1989, which was again scored by Shiv-Hari. https://youtu.be/Mag04um99xg(kabhi main kahu). This song is so close to my heart that sometimes I spend my whole day listening to this single song.
Awards
The movie makes you fall in love with the art of
filmmaking. It explains, how a film should be made with so much passion and
perfection. Visuals of Rajasthan in the first half and of London in the second
half are dazzling. So much detailing has been done on the characters. The
film grabbed 5 film fare awards in the year 1992. (Best Film, Best Actress
(Shridevi), Best Comic Actor (Anupam Kher), Best Story (Honey Irani), and Best
dialogue (Masoom Raza). The film also won the award of Best Costume Design at the
39th National Film Awards. Lamhe is indeed the greatest work of the two
legends, Yash Chopra and Shridevi.
Comments
one can not forget his or her love irrespective of age and also many of us ,as a hero of lamhe are shy in expressing it, many are bound by situation ,all this complexities of real life was painted in lamhe by two strong actors that's why it has earned so many awards.
Shridevi one of the finest actress of her time has done justice to her role. Going through your blog was nostalgic as we remembered her movies from chandani till english-vinglish.
Good blog, keep writing