Romance is dead!
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Neeraja
(Bordeaux, France)
EMAIL:
neeraja[dot]sigma[at]gmail[dot]com
Romance is dead!
“Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
-W.B.Yeats
The wonderful poem above and the title of the post more or less gives you an idea what the post is about. If I were you, I might have stopped reading by now for I am not really a big fan of romantic flicks. They usually tend to make be nauseous.
But This is not about love stories. This is about the romantic moments embedded in movies.
I sit here in my room listening to ’saath ho tum aur raat jawan, neend kise ab chain kahan…’ and I can’t help but wonder: whatever happened to romance? Inspite of the fact that most of the bollywood movies have an essential love-story track, I can recall very few (compared to total number of movies that we have) genuinely romantic on-screen moments, in fact, I can safely say that the number is close to zero in whatever we are being served nowadays.
The last romantic movie that I saw and I liked was ‘Socha na tha’ (I am keeping my views on ‘Jab We Met’ reserved until I watch it again, for I have watched it only in parts). ‘Socha Na tha’ was good. I enjoyed every bit of it including the very non-hummable but interesting songs but it still lacked the “romantic moments”. The scenes in the title song came close but then I am not excluding songs from the discussion. A song with a good picturization makes it much easier, for director as well as actors, to depict romance. It is more difficult to carry it off convincingly otherwise.
I had watched Madhumati some 5 years back but one of the scenes that I remember distinctly from the movie is when Vaijayantimala says something like baarish hone wali hai trying to find an excuse to go back home and Dilip Kumar with a smile on his face, in his very characteristic style remarks “Kahan ho rahi hai baarish”. I don’t know what is so special about it, perhaps the way he says it, I find it very romantic.
Remember the scene on the boat after ‘dum bhar jo udhar muh phere…’? When Raj Kapoor advances towards Nargis and she says “agar ek kadam bhi aage badhaya to kashti ulat kar doob jayegi”
He just looks at her with those lovely blue eyes and asks “to phir..”
Nargis smiles and says “Doob jane do kashti ko”.
Let me skip few decades and come to movies post 1990.
I go back to one of my first experiences of watching movies in theatre: Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahi. I had watched Shree 420, Ram Lakhan and few other movies before that but I have very vague memories of those. Also, I remember ‘Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahi’ better because this was the first time I realized that I am as stupid as those people who fall in love with movie stars.
Anyway, coming back to the point, the scene I want to mention is the one in the garage. Aamir Khan and Pooja Bhatt are left alone in the garage while the mechanic goes to get something. ‘hum hain rahi pyaar ke, hum se kuchh na boliye…’ is playing on the radio and they start dancing. Aamir humming along, with a cigarette in his mouth. As they dance, they look at each and they keep staring and move closer. He stops singing and the cigarette falls. The scene is a frame to frame copy of a black and white english flick, but who cares! as long as it’s done well.
The first time I watched the following scene from Company, I couldn’t believe RGV managed to make such a simple scene into such a beautiful one.
Manisha: “Lagta hai baarish hone wali hai”
Ajay: “hmmmn…to?”
Manisha: “to ka matlab?”
Ajay: “isme bolne ka kya hai”
Manisha: “tum sach mein rakshas ho”
Ajay: “har insaan ke andar ek rakshas hota hai…”
Manisha: “pehle bhi bata chuke ho”
Silence.
Sound of rain.
After a while, Ajay: “ab bologi baarish shuru ho gayi”
I rewinded and watched again. So, it is not about getting your actors to mouth witty dialogues or recite good poetry. RGV managed to pull it off with conversation as mundane as that, lines as simple as those, situation as normal as that!
Perhaps that is the reason why I remember it so well (and the fact that I have watched it some hundred times!).
Talking about all this, how can forget Mani Ratnam, arguably the best when it comes to romance on silver screen. Few days back Kartik wrote a very engaging post here and he included a brilliant scene from ‘Iruvar’ in his post. After watching that one scene, I was forced to watch the entire movie even though I don’t understand Tamil and I am glad I watched it.
From little things to intense scenes, Mani Ratnam is a genius with romantic scenes. I remember one small bit from Yuva when Vivek and Kareena (or may be Siddharth and Trisha in Ayitha Ezhuthu) spend the whole day in tram and she is tired. She wants to rest her head on his shoulder but she is feeling shy so she puts her handbag on his shoulder and then her head on it. Such a small but sweet detail…that’s the genius of Mani Ratnam.
How do I even begin to list/describe scenes from Dil se? Starting from the first scene on the railway platform [Link], the scene where they are talking about their hypothetical marriage, fights and kids (with a perfect background score) [Link] and the scene where he makes her listen to this conversation [Link], the scene where they talk about the things they hate and love most [Link], the scene where he tell her “kuchh nahi, sirf yahi ki main tumhe chahta hun, dil se” with that look on his face [Link], his recollection of platform scene on radio [Link] …everything is done brilliantly.
What happened to these people? God alone knows what’s wrong with RGV and Mahesh Bhatt has been very busy writing for movies like Murder, Nazar, Zeher and I don’t know what other errs (I guess a scene or two from Woh Lamhe might deseve a mention but I don’t remember the movie that well) and Mani Ratnam? Many people me were disappointed after watching Guru because it turned out to be just a love story but even the love story part was disappointing. I missed the old Mani Ratnam touch in romantic scenes.
Anurag Basu did pretty well with ‘Life in a Metro’ but mostly with the help of songs and like ‘Woh Lamhe’ none of the scene stayed with me.
What about real life? When was the last time you opened a webpage and a pop-up window advertising a dating website did not appear? Did you end up kissing on your first date and did your first kiss end up in an overnight stay?
If it is even partially true that art, cinema in particular, is a mirror to the society we live in, what does this mean? Is the age of romance over? Is romance dead?
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a welcome post neeraja ….dil se really deserves a mention over here …..one of my fav scenes in recent times is from Rand de Basanti when Madhavan proposes soha ….it was very b’fully done and then the song follwed …don’t know if it qualifies as romantic scene ,but thought of mentioning it …..
=d>
sahi hai
ab aayega thoda rang
sirf magazmari ke post dimag chheel dete hain
its got to be u neeraja
i am glad you dared
mujarim huun teraa aa mujhe jo chaahe sazaa de
is dil mein muhabbat kii sanam aag lagaa de
jazbaat kaa dil mein koii tuufaan uthaa ke
kahate hain jise pyaar zamaane ko dikhaa de
duniyaa se kabhii pyaar kaa shikavaa na karuuNgaa
le haath mein Khanjar merii gardan ko udaa de
in mast nigaahon se sar-e-shaam pilaakar
diivaane ko kuchh aur hii diivaanaa banaa de
@};-
i am a big fan of romantic flicks - after action.
her film main ek love story hoti hai
per damdar romantic scence kabhie kabhie hi banate hain
aisa kyon ???
|-)
off to links you have given here :-h
tumhare caption se thodi takleef hai
enlish poetry main ishqua bhi socha jata hai
kiya nahien jata
ishqua sochne ki cheej nahien
poori urdu poetry nintey percent ishqua hi hai
kuch wahan se uthana
husn ko be-hijaab honaa thaa
shauq ko kaamayaab honaa thaa
hijr mein kaif-e-iztaraab na puuchh
Khuun-e-dil bhii sharaab honaa thaa
tere jalvon mein ghir gayaa aaKhir
zarre ko aafataab honaa thaa
kuchh tumhaarii nigaah kaafir thii
kuchh mujhe bhii Kharaab honaa thaa
raat taaron kaa tuutanaa bhii ‘Majaz’
baais-e-iztaraab honaa thaa
“and did your first kiss end up in an overnight stay?”
Romance is dead. What used to be called “passionate loving all night on the floor near the dying embers of a wood burning fireplace “, is now glibly described by authors like it’s a hotel booking.
The truth is that love in all it’s shades remains the hardest emotion to be captured effectively on celluloid. That’s why touching love stories are so few and far between.
Of the hindi films I have seen over the past year, I think “Guru” has a number of very engaging scenes esp the scene on the railway platform when Ash ask Abhishek why he didn’t ask her to go along.
I also liked “Jaan-e-Mann” despite it being very filmy and totally over the top. A lot of it is down to me loving Humko maloom hain.
Of course the best love stories I have seen over past year have been
1) Paprika
2) Once
3) Away from Her
4) Japanese Story
5) The Secret Life of Words
The reason I love them that none of them are your typical fairytale romance. Check em out if you get a chance.
@Anand
Thanks. Ya I remember that scene but somehow it didn’t have the same impact as the ones I mentioned in the post.
@Vishrant
just kidding!
You are happy with this post even though it does not provide you enough ground for philosophising?
“her film main ek love story hoti hai
per damdar romantic scence kabhie kabhie hi banate hain”
So true and that’s the sad part.
Thanks for your comment. I like poetry that appeals to me and I must admit that I am not very well-read in either Engish or Urdu poetry. Thank you for posting some.
@cdrakenc
only frum mah mem’ry mah pretty, only manh mem’ry…
(if i were shahrukh khan or someone I’d prolly say Maine aapko shayad kahin dekha hai..and lean on your shoulder, but seeing as Ive never seen you in life and I’m more gandhian than sharukhian….I shall refrain…)
@Mithun
The reason why that scene or many others from Guru didn’t touch me is perhaps that any scene that has Aishwarya Rai Bachchan talking would never appeal to me
I wanted to differentiate between an impactful romantic scene(which can be a part of any movie across different genre) and a good love story. Hence no space for movies like Jaan-e-mann in the list(waise Jaan-e-mann won’t find space in any of my lists!)
‘Away From Her’ is good? I heard otherwise from some friends. Will try to watch it and also the other ones you mentioned.
“The reason I love them that none of them are your typical fairytale romance.” I hope that he comment is not directed at me and the ‘your’ is generic.
Both Yash Raj and Karan Johar have killed the romance on the screen. Urgghh.
Speaking of Yuva.. I loved all the flirting between Kareena and Viveck.. it was funny.
Forget romance.. we hardly swear on the screen
The “your” is a manner of speech encompassing the entire kainaat and not directed at anybody in particular.
Away from Her is brilliant.
hullo???
will ne1 tell me what happened 2 pfc pitcher??
Guru was hardly a romance. It had some wonderful intimate moments(I like the little slapping scene)but I dont remember people complaining it was just a love story.
And imo, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was the best part of the movie along with Mithun.
Neeraja: I don’t remember a recent movie which had memorable romantic moments. I have to hark back to Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander and Pehla Nasha for that moment.
Guru :-ss turned out to be a LOVE STORY:-j:)):)):)):((
The year is still young,but that might go on to win the quote of the year.
I agree with you with regard to Company. That scene between Devgan and Koirala was great. I even liked the scenes between Bajpai and Shefali Shah in Satya - especially the one where she slaps him after he comes home late. Gangster movies have the more subtle romantic scenes I suppose! RGV has given quite a few good romantic scenes if you add Rangeela to the list.
I liked a few scenes in the movie ‘Yugpurush’ which had Nana Patekar, Jackie and Manisha Koirala. It’s been very long since I last saw it but I remember that movie was brilliant. I don’t know how many have seen it and how many actually liked it but there are plenty of tender moments in that movie. Romance at its innocent best.
Ofcourse all the other movies you have mentioned have some of the best romantic scenes. No doubt.
I think 1942 - A love story, Aahista Aahista, etc. had some interesting scenes too.
@subrat:Neeraja: I don
@cdrakenc
I am glad you are more Gandhian than Shahrukhian
@Mithun
Ya ya I thought so, just wanted to confirm
@Subrat
Really? You mean none of the scenes I mentioned above appealed to you?
you are difficult to please!
@ML, French
Ok that was a bit of exaggeration but people I went to see the movie with(and also others) did complain that there was too much time spent on the love story and songs than Gurubhai’s journey as a successful businessman.
@Anand G
Yeah Satya! thanks for reminding me.
Haven’t watched Yugpurush, even though it was on tv so many times
I found Urmila a bit irritating in Rangeela (may be because of the voice), hence the romance didn’t click.
@HG
yeah I also liked Vivek-Kareena part in Yuva, don’t know why but most people I know found it boring
neeraja,
why are you glad? who/what were you afraid of? hehe
@cdrakenc
I am afraid of Shahrukhian romance, makes me nauseous.
(Note: Dil se is not Shahrukhian)
so you’d rather bomb me to heck than make nice with me in chopra lake?
But tell me seriously, lady from nice, don’t you ever prance in your undershirt in the rain in your home before running off with a eurail pass to meet ugly boys with a rivetting stare in switzerland?
I thought all desi girls in europe were like that.
Saathiya?
The title song of “Ankhiyon Ke Jharokon se” is for me absolutely the gr8est romantic song of our times. Its cheesy, it doesnt say anything new and has all the regular ingredients of unpragmatism going to it.
But, I just love that song. There’s something about a woman acting submissive and letting a guy take control. Its an extremely sexist thought that. But I find it mind-bogglingly sensual..
The melody is soulful, yes. But No.. thats not what makes that song so special. There’s something about a woman professin a man’s power thats so appealing. A thought that can never grow outdated…
And Ranjeeta Kaur and Sachin looked so ravishing together. That final stanza where she sings in her bedroom and Sachin walks out into his balcony almost like sensing it is so so sensual..
gawwwd!!!
idhar koi ‘dil chahta hai’ dekha hi nahin kya?
it with all its cheesy slurpy plus mature dingolficationsss
subrat? neeraja??
then theres saathiya with its wisecrack romance scenes
2 songs which i luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv
Asha singing ‘pyar ke mod pe’ in Parinda
Baahon ke Darmiyaaan from Khamoshi
and to a lesser extent
Akhonki Gistankhiyaan from the romance maestro’s Hum dil de chuke sanam
romance in songs?
Aaja maahiya from fiza iirc
the kajol aamir khan antakshari from fanaa
ding dong kovil mani from ji
mellaga thiragani from varsham
gopika vasantham from his highness abdulla
mun paniya nandha
@cdrakenc
and Switzerland? naah I would rather run off to meet ugly boys in Florence or Prague.
who are these desi girls? you seem to know a lot of them very well
“so you
Ok I gotta stay on topic, stop distracting!
@sreehari
Shayad samay samay ki baat hai, I could never see what was so special about that song.
@Amit
I liked Saathiya when I watched it for the first time but it doesn’t have much repeat value.
That’s the thing with flirting, you have to be creative. Repeating witty lines or jokes does not work.
Romance is different, you can say same things over and over….what matters is the way it is presented on celluloid.
Having said that, I love the scene where the local trains in which Vivek and Rani are travelling cross and they look at one another.
Gawwwd DPac! did you read the article? I said that I am not considering songs.
and DCH mein kaun sa scene? There was a lot of sweet flirting but romance? I can’t seem to remember any except perhaps the one where Aamir tells Priety that he had seen her when he had closed eyes and not the Opera singer.
but looking at it without context, it looses it’s impact no?
neeraja
since you’d run off to prague, we,ll just have to pretend geneva is prague bollywood style.
and since you set the bar so low for yourself, I don’t have to worry about how I look.
we just met on the internet and you want to know about all my other girls? huh women!
that’s why I go for guys like dabba…who don’t send me pictures so he’s out.
wait dabba is a guy?!
Neeraja.
the climax scene for one..
then u get ur not sooo routine scenes with akshay and dimple …
and saif and his gurl….
lots of scenes.. which are not ur usual steroetypical ‘romantic’ bollywood moments…
sorry the songs were just an addendum… nothing to do with what u said
btw , im in le gay paree (im not gay, tho)
you have abt 12 hrs to send pic, buy ehrail pass and get here. have a date for padmavati but can …fit you in
Dpac - yes yes! DCH ofcourse! The scene where he gate-crashes into the wedding festivities and punches Ayub. Oh yea! Sticking to Farhan Akhtar… even Lakshya had a couple of good scenes at the war-front where the reporter girl turns up. Convenient, yes… but works.
DPac, chalo theek hai yaar…I agree with you and Anand G. Yes, DCH had some good scenes especially Akshya-Dimple ones (saif track was usual flirting, hesitation etc etc no? just presented better) but you can’t convince me to inculde them in my list.
For me, the ones I have considered are way above them.
@cdrakenc
lol I was just admiring your deep knowledge of desi girls living in europe.
I would have been in Paris for ‘Padmavati’, with you or without you, if I didn’t have plans to run off to Prague tomorrow. Next time!
and
1) Why would a girl have a display name like ‘dabba’? Give me one good reason.
2) What makes you think I am a girl?
3) We should stick to the topic of the post, don’t you think so?
Er your’e not a girl ??
Didn’t we have the he/she argument a while back ?
Man this is so confusing.
:d
Dabba used to be one of the prettiest, most sought after girls in my school.
have fun in prague neeraja prasad dwivedi next time, remember to send photo phust
This IS the topic of the post, how people with ambiguous nicknames/ handled have killed the romance in (passion for) cinema….
@Mithun
hehe nah, I am a girl but wanted to know if it was so obvious.
Yeah I don’t know why people have such weird and ambiguous names cndraknc! or is it cdrakenc? or cdrankec?
They have killed romance in cinema but we should try and keep it alive on passion for cinema?
Is that what you are trying to say?
To all the people who are hell bent on discussing romance in songs, watch this
@Neerja (29)
“Shayad samay samay ki baat hai, I could never see what was so special about that song”
—Akhiyon ke jharokhon se—
You dont not find romance in this song or you dont like its picturisation:-?
Whole song is visually romantic.
Nre lovers who have accepted their love towards each other, search place where they can talk to each other without any disturbance.
Here they have opportunity to spend time. She sings, he enjoys her company, singing. She plays with water while singing, he taps his feet because of joy of the singing. Their looking towards each other, expressions,
but a distance is there and then while she walks ahead she slips and topples and he gives her support and first time their bodies are near. He tries to kiss her but before she also flows with the moment she gets senses and stops him. She finds little anger in his eyes and she pets his cheek with warm fingers and he is stable again.
then they are at their respective homes but still lost with the memory of time passed together.
They long for each other.
What more romance is needed.
may be personally you dont like this song and picturisation but romance is prseent in full dose in the song.
@ all -
don’t trusht lust.
Lust is Romance’s sexy cousin.
The ugly cousin is called friendship.
How can I be friends with you when we haven’t even slept together?
Word.
This is dedicated to a PFCite whom we all love and cherish and might never see again.
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather
KAREEB is my favourite romantic movie in past years, the climax where:-
Booby Deol climbing up the stairs with a flower in his hand and Neha descending …
Both were silent .. Dialogues in background …
I loved the scene …
@dabba(41)
I like your theory of sexy cousin and ugly cousin.
@RK(40)
Actually I don’t like the song that much. Never really paid much attention to the picturization.
Yes, it’s a personal choice…never denied the fact that other people might feel/see things I don’t.
@Avi
I don’t remember precisely which scene are you talking about…is it the one where he is wearing Rin supreme se dhuli hui white shirt?
Anyway, from romance point of view, some scenes(or songs) in Kareeb were nicely done.
I want to sex the sexy cousin and have long intense conversations with the ugly one (if the ugly one is smart)…aargh forget it , I want to sex the sexy one AND have long intense conversations with the sexy one….forget the ugly one.
Neeraja prasad is a GAL?
hunh!
it’s ok neeraja, I can’t spell too well either, but if aamir khan is to be believed i can make very good paintings.
(psst : send foto , buy eurail pass to sebrenica wit me).