“Lamhe”

“Lamhe” is regarded as one of the most remarkable films in Shridevi’s career. 

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. But it is the best romantic movie ever made in Bollywood, worth watching repeatedly.

Conception

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 adamant. 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.

Reviews

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 Love.

Trivia

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 Rahi Masoom Raza. Sridevi’s appearance was stunning. 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 asked 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. Anupam Kher and Wahida Rahman gave their best as supporting actors.

Music:

The music of Lamhe was excellent. Music directors, Shiv-Hari, added a Rajasthani flavor in the music of Lamhe along with light music. All the songs are beautifully sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Hariharan and Suresh Wadekar. The songs were written by Anand Bakshi. Among all the songs, “Kabhi Main Kahoon” (sung by Hariharan and Lata Mangeshkar) stands out as the best with its exceptional picturization, choreography, and music. The tune of this song was used as background music in Chandni back in 1989, which was again scored by Shiv-Hari.

Accolades:

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. 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.