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There is much more to Bollywood than romance and running around trees.
Shoma A. Chatterji looks at the many shades of platonic love in Hindi films
In South Asian society, where rigid segregation of men and women is more the rule than an exception, any relationship between two members of the opposite sex is viewed with considerable scepticism. India is no exception. Yet, Hindi mainstream cinema has often tackled this issue with a hand so subtle and so controlled that the scepticism is easily replaced with conviction and respect. What is platonic love? In the contemporary sense, platonic love is an affectionate relationship that evolves over a period of time between a man and a woman beyond family or blood ties without any physical resonances of any kind. It could connote an asexual friendship between a heterosexual couple. The prefix "Platonic" derives from Plato who, in his Phaedrus and Symposium, defines this as ascending from passion for the individual to contemplation of the universal and the ideal. It is a close relationship where sexual desire between the two individuals concerned either does not exist or has been sublimated. Moving against Indian notions that refuse to accept platonic relationships between two adults of opposite sex, cinema has chosen to tread the path of platonic love in myriad manifestations. Guru Dutt’s Sahib, Bibi Aur Ghulam is an excellent example of this kind of love. Through the slow and steady bonding between Bhootnath (Guru Dutt) and Chhoti Bahu (Meena Kumari), the film explores a relationship based on faith, mutual respect and a deep understanding of each other’s needs. Chhoti Bahu and Bhootnath are diametrically distanced from each other. Yet, they strike a chord of friendship from the minute they meet secretly in the former’s chamber for the first time, till their first and last journey in the carriage out of the mansion. The relationship between the alcoholic lawyer (Sunny Deol) and his client Damini (Meenakshi Sheshadri) in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Damini is another good example of bonding between two virtual strangers who meet in dramatic circumstances. The lawyer is also the rescuer of his would-be-client in distress. The bonding lasts as long as the court case does. The lawyer, having given up law, takes up her case because he now has a cause to fight for. He finds this in Damini. Once the husband comes back, the relationship comes to an end. This is in keeping with our societal norms that do not brook a married woman’s friendship with a man who is not her husband. A reflection of this relationship was seen again in Revathy’s Phir Milenge starring Shilpa Shetty and Abhishek Bachchan. Though Phir Milenge pleads the professional rights of AIDS/HIV patients, it is more about human relationships under pressure. Some relationships break under strain whereas others grow stronger. Interestingly, most platonic relationships grow in strength under pressure because, unlike husband-wife and brother-sister relationships, there is no emotional quid pro quo involved. In this case, both Tamanna (Shilpa Shetty) and Tarun (Abhishek Bachchan) gain from the bonding emotionally. The relationship that begins on a negative note, ends up showing the two having grown into more mature and responsible individuals than they were when they first met. Naseeruddin Shah’s Yun Hota To Kya Hota weaves four different stories into one, tracing the journey of the major characters in search of their dreams, real and illusionary. One of these stories is about a small-time entertainer Rajubhai (Paresh Rawal) who makes a living out of taking dance troupes to the US from time to time and making tons of money out of it. In the course of his work, he suddenly encounters his old flame Tara (Ratna Pathak Shah), now married to a violent alcoholic, who requests him to take her daughter to the US. The single and lonely Rajubhai is overwhelmed and agrees to take the young girl along, but refuses the money Tara offers as the mandatory fee from her hard-earned nest of savings. Rajubhai is both confused and happy when he meets Tara though the flame of passion and sex are no longer present. It is a poignant insight into a moving tale of platonic love between an ageing but successful man and a woman driven to penury and pain. A slow, sure yet tottering bonding evolves between the ageing Veer (Shahrukh Khan) and his lawyer (Rani Mukherjee) in Veer-Zaara. The lawyer is determined to bring back the separated lovers together through her fight with the law though she has nothing personal to gain from this union. Her professional aim to win the case metamorphoses into a personal crusade to celebrate the love of Veer and Zara who have not met for many years. Ambrose Bierce, American satirist, may have defined Platonic love as "a fool’s name for the affection between disability and a frost." Hindi cinema would love to disagree.
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