LAMHE:
Magic moments
[Column 1] ...
...in fact, had been almost a folly. His friends had cautioned him, his foes al- cackled at him, his cinemagoers' angry young man, in the role of a romantic poet who loses his love and ceases to live.
For the first couple of weeks after its release, Kabhie Kabhie had almost lived up to the trade's prophecy and appeared doomed at the box-office. Then suddenly, miraculous, it picked up and went on to become one of the Bachchan's biggest blockbusters.
Unfortunately, Chopra wasn't as lucky with the films that followed and went through a very rough patch in the '80s. Silsila, released in '81, was the first casualty. Despite its headline making casting coup (this was the only film to feature Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha and Jaya), it failed to pack in the cinemas. Three years later came Mashaal. It was critically applauded but not commercially successful. Faasle in '85 again fell flat, even though with this film the love specialist returned to his Swiss snows and sighing sonatas. Vijay which hit the theatres three years later boasted of many big names but still could n't carry favour with either the masses or the classes.
It was Chandni, released the following year, a love-story, that proved to be the silver lining in the dark clouds. Buoyed up by its surprise success, Chopra began to dream again... of Lamhe.
Lamhe was a story that revolved around Kuar Virendra Pratap and his obsession with Pallavi. She's a few years older than him and chooses another man without realising that Viren has lost his heart to her. When Pallavi and her husband die in an accident, the responsibility of bringing up their newborn daughter falls to Viren. Shattered by Pallavi's death, he moves to London, leaving Pooja to his darling Daija. He makes annual pilgrimages to his ancestral home in Rajasthan, not to celebrate his ward's birthday but to perform her mother's barsi. Even though she's...and distant from her person, Pooja has decided years ago to marry Viren when she's grown-up.
However, when she confesses her feelings for him during a stay in London, Viren throws her mother's photograph at her and immediately announces his plans to marry a long-time associate. A heart-broken Pooja returns to India and announces her own marriage plans. Then, when love seems to be losing out a second time, Viren turns up, to discover the truth.
Chopra had conceived the film with Amitabh and Rekha. But during Silsila Chopra's relationship with his favourite star had soured some-what, reportedly over the deletion of a song from the film. It took them almost two decades to sort out their differences (With Mohabbatein directed by Chopra's son Aditya, Amitabh returned in the Yashraj banner). So when Chopra got cracking on Lamhe sometime in the '80s, it was Vinod Khanna he turned to rather than the Bachchan with the role of Viren.
"I thought I'd make the film with Vinod and a new girl but only after I'd had a big hit," he decided. Searching for that big hit he started Chandni with Vinod, Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi. During the making of Chandni, Lamhe took another dramatic turn. One day while sitting with Sridevi, Chopra narrated the plot summary of Lamhe to her and before he had finished the actress was mesmerised by her eyes sparkling with excitement. "No, I want to do this," with rare aggression she said. "If you won't, I want to be in the film." Chopra was shocked; he had intended to cast a new face opposite Vinod.
"Sridevi was a top star at the time and she had done a double role in Chaalbaaz," says Chopra. "Besides, I was concerned if the audience would accept a top star in a role where she loves an older man who's brought her up." But Sridevi was adamant. "Give it to me, I'll do it," she said. And when Chopra yielded, she said, "Tell me the story of Pallavi and Pooja, that I knew I'd want to play them."
He credited writer Honey Irani with bringing out the contrast between mother and daughter who look exactly alike. The identical look, the confusing nature of the youngster's sorrow, would not be difficult to project.
Sridevi recalled Yashji telling her of his experience with Sridevi in Chandni: "He wasn't sure how I'd shape up in a double role. He had been assured by the late actor Sanjeev Kumar, who was in Baton Baton Mein, that if I wore a sari, I could look older. So when we were shooting in London, the first few days I wore a simple cotton sari with my hair tied in a bun, and I tried to affect a staid demeanor. I remember Yashji saying, 'Aha, this is what I want!'"
[Column 2]
...seen this side of the ocean. Deepak didn't even have the satisfaction of having a heroine who was truly a discovery. Deepak had been a model before Yashji signed him. As a model he was quite the rage, but as an actor he never quite managed to capture the imagination of the public. He had tried his hand at direction and acting in television, but Lamhe was his first major break on the big screen. Working with Sridevi was a daunting prospect for any newcomer. But Sridevi made it easier for him. "I have no doubt that if I didn't have Sridevi by my side, I wouldn't have been able to make it through the film," he said.
[Column 3]
...Honey had started Viren's love story with him as a 20-year-old romantic. There was no way that Vinod Khanna could ever be made to look like a boy who had just stepped out of his teens. For a while Chopra toyed with the idea of casting a new boy in the role. Many young aspirants were screened-test. Deepak Malhotra, the fresh-faced Vimal model, was almost finalized when Anil Kapoor sent a bunch of photographs to Honey. Anil who had worked with Chopra earlier in Mashaal and Vijay, had heard that the producer- director had started work on a new project and was testing newcomers for it. He had an instinctive feeling that something brilliant was happening. He had some photographs clicked and sent them to Honey with the message, "Here's a newcomer who wants to do the film." Honey took the photographs across to Chopra who invited Anil over for a meeting and a story narration after which the ace assured him, like Sridevi had done earlier, that he'd do anything for the role.
Those days Anil was at home, recuperating from a bike accident that had left him with a fractured leg. He could barely stand, but he didn't let that stop him. "Yashji didn't believe that I was really interested in the film. He asked me if I really wanted to do it. I was limping when I met him. He didn't think I'd be able to do it, but I told him that I would manage." Anil was cast.
[Column 4]
"I don't know who the inspiration behind the roles in Lamhe was. Or who they had been written for. But when Yashji narrated the story to me on the sets of Chandni, I was so fascinated by the characters of Pallavi and Pooja, that I knew I'd love to play them. The challenge lay in bringing out the contrast between mother and daughter who look identical" SRIDEVI
[Column 5]
...sought the feedback of his team during the scripting stage to his daring love story, he was not afraid to experiment. He had shot his climax in Rajasthan, a sequence where Viren returns to Pooja's home, thinking she has come to terms with her reality. Many people told him that "I should change the scene, but I made up my mind that I'll go through with it."
The entire film was completed in just two schedules. One in Rajasthan, and the other in the suburbs of London. Incidentally, Lamhe was the first Hindi film, a major portion of which was shot in London. Before the final hunt on the floors, Chopra was driving around London in a friend's car scouting for locations. He chanced upon a huge, picturesque house with 18 rooms. The place was Sandy Way and was 350 miles from London. As soon as he saw it Chopra decided that this was where Lamhe should be shot and moved into the house with his entire unit. Living under one roof fostered a feeling of togetherness and camaraderie. After the shooting was over Anupam Kher told everyone that Lamhe had been like a picnic.
His co-star, Sridevi agreed with him asserting that she had enjoyed every scene, every moment during the making of the film. Of course, the idyllic had been rudely interrupted by the news of the sudden demise of her father. It was a terrible blow for Sridevi who had been very close to her father.
For a while Chopra had toyed with the idea of flying his whole unit back to India and returning later to complete the unfinished scenes. But the expenses would have mounted and the budget would have gone haywire. It was Sridevi who insisted that they stay just in London. She'd fly down to India and return as soon as possible.
Having reassured her new-found family, Sridevi took the next flight to Chennai and was shocked to see that her mother was in. It was a traumatic couple of weeks for Sridevi but she coped. And on the eighteenth day, after all the emotional turmoil, she dashed back to London...."
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