London: The audience swooned as they watched 'Dil Dhadakne Do', the gasping was not entirely for the lovely ladies Priyanka Chopra and Anushka Sharma, but, most of them instantly fell in love with the exotic cruise line. Zoya Akhtar’s latest presentation has caught the fancy of the audience who are all set to plan their next holiday in a luxurious cruise line sailing at Mediterranean or Arabian Sea. The ensemble cast in the film got a perfect setting in the form cruise line Deck 7 which sailed through the European shores. Bollywood had never explored cruise journey on a wide expanse as Zoya did. Aamir Khan-Manisha Koirala starrer 'Mann' (1999) was the last that we saw an exotic ship, when the hangover of James Cameron’s 'Titanic' was still fresh in our minds.
Earlier, Zoya was fascinated with three men and a car, trying to fight their inner demons on a road journey in 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara'. Different cars were used in various portions to heightened the drama in ZNMD, which moved in rhythmic speed into the by lanes and country side of Spain. Sky blue Buick was undoubtedly the swoon-worthy fourth star besides Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol and Farhan Akhtar. Just as the blue Cadillac was third important element in Anjaana-Anjaani after Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor. Bollywood’s romance with cars is historic and started in the 60s when Shammi Kapoor romanced Shakila on a convertible Chevy, much ahead of its time.
Mode of transportation has never been merely a means of commuting for filmmakers but an integral part of the plot. Indian Railways has been as crucial to the filmmakers as it has been a trustworthy transportation for millions of film loving Indian audience.
Ashok Kumar’s poetry Rail Gadi in 'Ashirwad' and Kishor Kumar’s resonating 'Gadi Bula Rahi Hai', as Dharmendra travelled in a general bogey offered a philosophical take to train journey. Chemistry between Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna doubled as the open jeep driven by Sujit Kumar chased the toy train in the hilly train in the song Mere Sapnon Ki Rani from 'Aradhana'. A R Rahman’s 'Chaiya Chaiya' would not have been a masterpiece, had it not been the gravity-defying roof top dance by Shah Rukh Khan and Malaika Arora Khan on a train in 'Dil Se'. Darjeeling’s heritage toy train got etched in the memory of the film lovers with Saif Ali Khan’s 'Kashto Mazza' song in 'Parineeta'.
Train has also been romanticized by filmmakers like Aparna Sen’s 'Mr and Mrs Iyer', Ravi Chopra’s thriller 'The Burning Train' with some interesting diversion such as 'Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local' exploring commuters in the Mumbai locals or Kolkata trams exuding old world charm in Dibakar Banerjee’s 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy'!
Like Zoya, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali too habitually takes his audience on a journey. Kareena Kapoor’s endless jabbering made tedious train journey from Mumbai to Bhatinda, enroute on Rajasthan Tourism buses and ultimately on Taxi look smooth in 'Jab We Met'. A story on Stockholm syndrome in Highway got an interesting spin, as Randeep Hooda with a kidnapped a rich traumatized brat Alia Bhatt travelled the terrains of Himalayas on a dowdy truck.
Unlike Hollywood that has made some fine films shot completely on airplane, Bollywood is yet to take off on the elite mode of transportation. Apart from films such as Shiney Ahuja starrer Hijack (2008) and Rohit Shetty’s thriller Zameen, that hardly made a mark, our filmmakers are yet to conceive a tautly narrated movie like Leonardo De Caprio starrer The Aviator, Dana Andrews’ Zero Hour and The Flight Of The Phoenix.
Comments
0 comment