The perfect Match

Will the coming together of Hrithik and Aishwarya in Jodhaa-Akbar create a new screen pair, asks Derek Bose

The hot pairing between Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai made Dhoom II a hit

Bollywood’s hugely hyped romantic potboiler Jodhaa Akbar is supposed to be the "most extravagant, ambitious and lavishly mounted love story" yet in Hindi cinema.

While much is being made of the creative liberties taken by the director — how far does he depart from history, whether there is any resemblance between the actors and the characters they play (even by a long shot) and so on — what seems to have escaped public attention is the effort to install a new screen pair in Bollywood. Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai were last seen together in Dhoom II — the biggest hit of 2006.

Now, screen pairs are not peculiar to Hindi cinema. We have seen the magic of Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca as also the crackling chemistry of Clark Gable-Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind. In Bengali cinema, we had Uttam Kumar-Suchitra Sen, in Tamil, MGR-Jayalalitha, in Kannada, Raaj Kumar-Bharati`85 just as intense and popular as Ashok Kumar-Nalini Jaywant or Raj Kapoor-Nargis of yore.

Among the current crop of actors, can one lead pair come anywhere close to recreating the success of any of these yesteryear greats?

Let me clarify. Can we name a hero and heroine who, by virtue of the space they get to occupy together on screen, are capable of adding that ‘extra dimension’ to their role in a film? Call it charisma, physical compatibility, sex appeal, intensity quotient, the inexplicable X-factor`85 it is a combination of all these factors which ultimately make the screen couple a major selling proposition for a movie to work at the box-office.

Going by this criterion, the last real Bollywood jodi we saw was Shahrukh Khan-Kajol. Since the time they first appeared together in Baazigar and through films like Karan Arjun, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, they have unerringly been able to pack such power in their performance that audiences took them to be made for each other. As solo actors though, both were found severely wanting and produced more flops than hits.

For some strange reason, many filmmakers have been trying to create the same magic in the Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya pairing and barring Mani Ratnam (in Guru) no one has succeeded. In J.P.Dutta’s Umrao Jaan, they were particularly disastrous. Far from letting any sparks fly, they came across as plain uncomfortable, even self-conscious, in each other’s company. (Farooque Shaikh pulled off a far more convincing Nawab Sultan with Rekha in the Muzaffar Ali original). For a lead pair sharing screen space for the first time, such awkwardness is perhaps excusable. But by then, Abhishek and Ash had worked together in Dhai Akshar Prem Ke, Kuch Na Kaho and had danced to the folksy beats of ‘Kajra Re’ in Shaad Ali’s Bunty Aur Babli.

Theirs is a classic case of personal chemistry not working on screen. Screen chemistry, after all, has nothing to do with personal equation or relationships, acting skill or the physical proximity actors share within a film frame. Yesteryear heroes could never get anywhere as close to their heroines as our lover boys and nubile nymphets do these days. But it was with a discreet upturned look, a muscular twitch or flicker of the eyelashes that they could set the screen on fire. Their body language said it all.

Yet, our filmmakers labour under the mistaken notion that off-screen romance automatically guarantees on-screen chemistry and in turn, box-office success. Shahrukh and Kajol, for instance, could produce several hits, even as audiences knew that off-screen they led independent lives. Ditto for Anil Kapoor-Madhuri Dixit, Govinda-Karisma Kapoor, Aamir Khan-Juhi Chawla`85 And yet, producers push their luck incessantly.

That personal relations can have nothing to do with on-screen chemistry is further proved by Vivek Oberoi-Aishwarya in Kyun Ho Gaya Na when they were seeing each other. What happened to that film? Likewise, John Abraham and Bipasha Basu produced a hit with Jism but when they got together again in films like Madhoshi, Aetbaar and Goal, the results were tragic. Then there’s Fida, which sank without a trace when Kareena Kapoor was cast with her real life flame Shahid Kapoor. Later, while their split was making national headlines, Jab We Met became a runaway hit.

Clearly, audiences have become mature enough to distinguish between reel and real romance and can judge films on merit. During the 1950s and 1960s, this was not so. An already married Raj Kapoor could hit it off with a yet-to-be married Nargis through a series of romantic socials like Aag, Barsaat, Andaaz, Awara, Aah and Shri 420 simply because it was no secret to the public that they were romantically involved. Kapoor kept feeding the gossip mills on the affair whenever he launched a romantic musical. And when he had a serious, non-romantic, issue-based film like Boot Polish (this was before Shri 420), he conveniently dropped Nargis. After Nargis married Sunil Dutt in 1957, the screen chemistry just fizzled out.

The Raj Kapoor-Nargis affair was the hottest and the most happening thing in those days, rivaled perhaps by an equally doomed Dev Anand-Suraiya romance. Any film that presented the couples as lovers offered the audience a cinemascopic view of how they could possibly be behaving in private. The extra ‘something’ screen pairs brought in could generate enough sizzle to make even below-average performances perfectly acceptable by the box-office.

Not any longer though. Audiences have become so very demanding and cinema is fast losing its innocence. Love stories are increasingly making way for sex comedies, costume dramas and experimental features. Characterisation, storyline and treatment have come to count for more than casting and chemistry. Indeed, the very complexion of Hindi cinema has changed.

Crackling chemistry

Here’s a quick run-up of some of the hottest Hindi screen couples:

Ashok Kumar-Nalini Jaywant: His suave, gentleman persona was a perfect foil to her exuberant, impish image. In barely seven years, they produced a string of hits, such as Samadhi, Sangram, Kafila, Jalpari, Nau Bahar, Saloni, Naaz and Mr X.

Raj Kapoor-Nargis: The most idolised romantic pair of all time, they worked in as many as 16 films, most of them Kapoor’s home productions: Barsaat, Aah, Awara, Shri 420, Chori Chori

Dilip Kumar-Madhubala: They shared screen space in just four films – Tarana, Sangdil, Amar and Mughal-e-Azam. But it was their tempestuous, larger-than-life romance that kept their on-screen association alive in public perception.

Guru Dutt-Waheeda Rahman: They epitomised tragic love, the theme of two of their most memorable films — Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool. They were also in 12 O Clock, Chaudhvin Ka Chaand and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam.

Sanjeev Kumar-Jaya Bhaduri: Both were powerful and sensitive performers and complemented each other perfectly in films like Koshish, Naya Din Nayi Raat and Anamika.

Dharmendra-Hema Malini: They looked very much the couple in love, whether in Seeta Aur Geeta, Jugnu or Sholay. The chemistry they shared could never be matched by their other co-stars.

Amitabh Bachchan-Rekha: Their widely publicised romance (and break-up) no doubt contributed to the aura around their performance in films like Do Anjane, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and Silsila. As a screen couple they were an item — more natural and convincing than the Amitabh-Jaya or Rekha-Jeetendra jodis.

Anil Kapoor-Madhuri Dixit: Their most popular films together were Tezaab, Beta, Parinda and Pukaar — all mediocre, run-of-the-mill productions, but superhits by virtue of their compelling screen chemistry.

Shahrukh-Kajol: Their association began with Baazigar, was followed by Karan Arjun and peaked with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham have left their fans asking for more.

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