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On the sands of time: 1994
SOORAJ Barjatiya’s Hum Aapke Hain Kaun did not have a story in the conventional sense but was a mega hit because it beautifully packaged the great Indian family and glorified family ties, filial bonds, fraternal camaraderie and the tradition of kinship. The marriage of Rajesh
(Behl) and Pooja (Renuka Shahane) provided a backdrop for the story. The
elaborate rituals set the scene for teasing and flirting between the
bride and groom’s siblings. In this process, cupid struck Prem
(Salmaan Khan) and Nisha (Madhuri Dixit). A year later, tragedy struck
when Pooja fell down a flight of stairs and died, leaving her husband
with a small child to raise. The family elders decided to marry off
Nisha to her widowed brother-in-law. She acquiesced without a squeak for
the sake of her sister’s infant. But at the eleventh hour, Rajesh
learnt about Nisha and Prem’s romance, and the two were united. Ram
Laxman’s songs Didi tera devar diwana, Wah wah Ramji, Joote dey do
paise ley lo, Maaye ni maaye became part of many an Indian
off-screen marriage. In later films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le
Jayengey and Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai, one saw glimpses of Hahk. |
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Mehul Kumar’s Krantiveer was a loud and patriotic tale of Pratap (Nana Patekar), a grandson of a Gandhian nationalist, who took it upon himself to combat the villainous ways of Yograj (Tinu Anand) and Cheetah (Dany Denzongpa). He was joined by a fearless journalist Megha Dixit (Dimple Kapadia), who had been raped by Cheetah. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1942-A Love Story was a romance that unfolded against the backdrop of India’s struggle for Independence. Naren (Anil Kapoor) fell in love with Rajjo (Manisha Koirala) at first sight. Naren’s father was committed to colonial rule while Rajjo’s father was a revolutionary terrorist. Their love affair exposed a terrorist plot to assassinate British General Douglas, whose role was modelled on that of General Dyer of the infamous Jallianwala tragedy. Naren ultimately joined the terrorists led by Shubhankar (Jackie Shroff). Anil Kapoor’s exuberance and Koirala’s ethereal innocence, coupled with Vinod Chopra’s technical brilliance, made this love story unforgettable. Written by Javed Akhtar and composed by R.D. Burman, Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga had a fairytale-like quality. Lata Mangeshkar created sheer magic with the song Kuchh na kaho kuchh bhee na kaho. R.D. Burman was not alive to see how popular his music became. Shyam Benegal’s Mammo handled a delicate subject like Hindi-Muslim relations in a light-hearted manner. Mammo (Farida Jalal) was an Indian Muslim woman whose marriage took her to Pakistan. After the death of her husband, she came back to India to stay with her sister Fayyazi (Surekha Sikri) and her orphaned grandson Riyaz. Having come on a temporary visa, Mammo was deported but returned in the end. Jalal lent exuberance to Mammo’s character. Indo-Pak culture was well presented through the ghazals of Iqbal Bano and the soul-stirring poetry of renowned Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. In David Dhawan’s Raja Babu, Govinda played Raja Babu, an uncouth, uneducated, spoilt and wayward foster son of a rich landlord Krishan Singh (Kadar Khan). Raja wanted to marry Madhu (Karishma Kapoor), but when she discovered that Raja was illiterate, the marriage was called off. Dhawan’s trademark slapstick comedy and Govinda’s tomfoolery lent several twists and turns to the story. The film generated a lot of controversy for its raunchy numbers like Sarka liyo khatiya.. . Rahul Rawail’s Anjaam was about an avenging angel Shivani (Madhuri Dixit), who was like a one-woman army in a male-dominated society. Shah Rukh too won many hearts with his power-packed performance of a demonic lover. |
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