Remembering Sridevi and the romantic classic Lamhe on her 3rd death anniversary

Bollywood superstar Sridevi had passed away on February 24, 2018. She died from accidental drowning in Dubai at the age of 54, according to the forensic report.

Referred to as India's first female superstar, Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan aka Sridevi was one of the very few actors who enjoyed a mass appeal across major regional film industries within the country. She made her on-screen debut at the tender age of four in a Tamil movie and soon went on to dominate the Tamil, Telugu and Hindi film industries. After making her Bollywood debut with the 1975 blockbuster, Julie, in which she had played a supporting role, Sridevi went on to deliver blockbusters like Sadma, Himmatwala, Nagina, Chandni, ChaalBaaz, Judaai and English Vinglish, among others.

On Sridevi's third death anniversary, we take a trip down memory lane and revisit one of her most-loved feature films, Lamhe.

LAMHE, A LOVE STORY UNLIKE ANY

Directed by the Master of Romance Yash Chopra himself, Lamhe was the perfect tribute to the woman and the actor that Sridevi was. The superstar, who made her entry dancing to the tunes of Megha Re Megha in the unmatched voice of Lata Mangeshkar, was the only actor amongst the star-studded cast who was given a 'hero-like' entry sequence in the romantic epic.

The film begins with Viren (Anil Kapoor) visiting Rajasthan for the first time since his family had migrated to London long before he was born. Gobsmacked by the hot weather conditions and the rich cultural heritage of the state, Viren stumbles upon Pallavi (Sridevi) and falls in love with her almost instantly. But, Viren fails to confess his love for Pallavi. However, post the sudden death of her father, Pallavi marries her long-time boyfriend, Siddharth, while a heartbroken Viren leaves for London.

However, in a cruel twist of fate, Pallavi and her husband are killed in a car accident, leaving their only child Pooja in the care of Dai Jaa (Waheeda Rehman). An already grief-stricken Viren finds it difficult to come to terms with the fact that the date of Pooja's birth and Pallavi's demise coincides, and continues to avoid Pooja till she turns into both an adult and a spitting image of Pallavi herself.

HOW SRIDEVI MADE LAMHE HER OWN

Sridevi delivers an electrifying performance in this timeless love saga. While she looks amazingly comfortable playing a traditional Rajasthani girl in the first half of the screenplay, she breathes fire into the more contemporary Pooja and brings her to life with sheer brilliance in the second half. It is difficult to take your eyes off of her as she lights up the screen as the bubbly and ambitious Pooja.

One can't help but admire how Sridevi allows Pooja to glow when she finally gets a chance to meet Kunwar Viren for the first time. And the star is at her best when she attempts to portray the inexpressible joy of awaiting her beloved on the big screen. Sridevi, whose expressions were second to none, is as good in the emotional scenes as she is while dancing away to glory to the chartbuster tracks of the movie. While Sridevi's enchanting desert dance to Lata Mangeshkar's Morni Baaga Ma is a sight to behold, her attempt to re-enact scenes from yesteryear classic Hindi songs with the terrific Anupam Kher is quite a spectacle in itself.

WHY WAS LAMHE AHEAD OF ITS TIME?

The masala entertainers had dominated the better part of the 80s and it was time for a change. Director Yash Chopra took it upon himself and released Lamhe in 1991, starring Sridevi and Anil Kapoor in the lead. The inclusion of veterans like Waheeda Rehman and Anupam Kher in the supporting cast was like icing on the cake and it was an absolute delight to see a star-cast full of legendary performers come together effortlessly on celluloid. The respective stories of each of the film's characters were beautifully interwoven with each other, thus making it more than just a trite Bollywood love story.

That being said, what makes Lamhe unique is its storyline. The film follows the story of a young man (Viren) who falls in love with an older woman (Pallavi), who doesn't love him back. It is also the story of a younger woman (Pooja) who falls in love with a man whose house she has stayed in all her life. Needless to say, it is the same man who once loved her mother, and continues to do so even after her death. As complicated as the storyline sounds, it is both daring and ambitious in equal measure.

Director Yash Chopra manages to lure you into the fantastical world of Lamhe with deliberate ease. He makes full use of his camera by zooming it in on Sridevi's face in some of the most vital scenes in the movie. This was a cinematic ritual that was commonly practised by most of her directors. The excellent performances aside, Lamhe's beauty truly comes to the surface as Pooja's birthday is freed from Pallavi's death as the three-hour-long film proceeds towards its emotionally-charged finale. The character that Sridevi essayed and made her own sent out a message that love has no business sense and that it knows no rulings of age.

Needless to say, the average Indian viewer was not too keen to accept Lamhe as it was presented and the Yash Chopra directorial venture underperformed at the domestic box office. However, it deservingly won several Filmfare awards that included: Best Actress for Sridevi, Best Comic Actor for Anupam Kher, Best Film, Best Story, Best Costume, and Best Dialogue, respectively.

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