Decades after the film's release, many have found DVDs of Lamhe and re-ignited the reviews of the film, debating on the bold theme of the film - which seems completely tame now as social mores have changed so rapidly in Bollywood, if not India.
Some of our fav comments on the movie, particularly Sridevi's performance:
On the side: Lamhe, though quite long, is very watchable mostly because of Sridevi’s performance and also the fact that you get to see Anil Kapoor without his trademark mooch. Watch out for the sequence where Anupam Kher and Sridevi recreate old Hindi songs. It’s super fun! Also, major props to Yash Chopra for making a film that was quite ahead of its time and that too with two actors who were on the top of their game.
The Quint.
What makes LAMHE even more amazing is that the lead actress, in a dual role was the now legendary Sridevi! Playing both the girl younger Viren fell in love with, as well as her daughter, Sridevi handles both roles with such class and exuberance that I didn’t realize how much I missed her performances, until re-watching LAMHE.
Especially
when playing the younger and immature girl, Sridevi was able to turn on
the immature giggle, and switch to the mature and cold hard stares, so
seamlessly that it spoke volumes about her talent.
LAMHE is cemented as a ‘classic Yash Chopra film’… and it’s not hard to see why.
If Lamhe has a redeeming feature, it is of course the marvelous Sridevi herself. Amrita
said of her in this moive, "Sridevi was just this magical creature to
us who could do no wrong." This goes a long way to explain why this
dull movie with its bizarro story is so fondly remembered by desi women
my age. Supriya Nair, in her wonderful article about Sridevi (which I referenced in my review of English Vinglish)
talked about the resonant appeal to contemporaneous young girls of
Sridevi's woman-child characters like Pooja. But for me, Pooja is
strange, puzzling, even unappealing. As charming and gifted as Sridevi
obviously is, Pooja's terminal ingenuousness is a turnoff, as is the
notion of her paired with the middle-aged, gloomy Viren. Sridevi is
far more appealing as the bright, clever Pallavi - I would have
thoroughly enjoyed a movie about that character.
There are a few nice songs in Lamhe - the best of these is
Sridevi's gorgeous rain song, "Megha re megha," which I had to back up
and watch several times over before I could continue the movie.Another sure crowd-pleaser is the medley of old songs that Pooja, Prem, and Dai Jaa perform in an attempt to get a smile out of the perpetually pouting Viren. This is interminable, and eventually nearly insufferable, but Waheeda Rehman dancing to "Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai" is such a deliciously pleasurable filmi in-joke as to make it all worthwhile.
FilmiGeek
If Anil Kapoor lends Viren a perfect blend of dignity, denial and restraint; Sridevi demonstrates the difference between a woman and a child woman as Pallavi and Pooja.
While Pallavi is effervescent, independent and poised, Pooja is playful, impulsive and frank.
Sridevi’s entire being is in sync with her characters -- her eyes, smile, lips -- every bit of her emotes and communicates to the screen. She’s never looked this beautiful.
The actress lost her father during the making of the film. She took a brief break and returned to shoot a funny scene where she’s fooling around with Waheeda Rehman with her face covered in bleach. The show goes on and her brilliance conceals her pain.
Rehman’s benevolent demeanour makes Daaijaan even more special. (Like Kabhi Kabhie she sings a lullaby here too. Nanhi Pari becomes Gudiya Rani.) As the woman with no family of her own, dedicating herself to two children going through the exact same motions in matters of the heart, she conveys her inner turmoil of watching them suffer with unspoken entitlement.
She lets her hair down too. And how. That moment when she shakes a leg to her famous song from Guide -- Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tammana Hai, is just wow.
Rediff
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