Sridevi in Lamhe: Exquisite

What's lost in bad copies of VCDs and old cassette tapes of pirated versions of the film, the detailing of Neeta Lulla's exquisite (National Award winning-) design. The embroidiery, colour pallett, fabric oice and accessories. The stack of bangles so carefully piled, the brocade at the end of her blouse and chunri, the sheen, the pattern, the colour choices to ensure Sridevi stands out on the big screen and completement the background of the undulating sands of Rajasthan, the understated and yet obvious makeup in soft traditional colours, the strong eyeline of kohl and kajal, the tender lip... 

Sridevi in Lamhe was in fine form. In fact, many argue probably her finest hours as every ingredient in the film was at such a high level... There are several terrible films where Sridevi is the best thing in the movie. In Lamhe, everything was right - right from the top as Yash Chopra led the charge and stewarded the film so well. 

The film has been under scrutiny by.. lesser intellects who have problems with the comedy, the age-gap, the storyline, the morality... All who have only scrutinized the film superficially and thrown up words on ai and performed an analysis that's skin-deep. Of course there's an age-gap, that's the entire story, the build up, the plotline, the when, why and how it happened. Its a jump off point from a 1912 epistolary novel, Daddy-Long-Legs, that unfolds as a series of letters written by the protagonist to her mysterious benefactor. Instead of a direct lift, its Indian-ised and different, but the germ of an idea is somewhere there. The original was written so long ago by Jean Webster (the pen name of Alice Jane Chandler Webster), an American author who was also the grand-niece of Mark Twain. There's a kernel of an idea from there but Yash Chopra and writer Honey Irani trapezed off that idea and took it to Rajasthan and  London, proving inspiration can come from anywhere and any time.  

Lamhe is profound in so many ways - you just have to look for the depth and literary references - and not be swayed by idiots on social media.