New Delhi: Boy meets girl. Girl likes boy. Boy thinks the girl is hot. Love happens. Romantic songs are sung. Perfectly choreographed item numbers happen. Long walks are taken under the moonlight. But then, The Incident happens. Misunderstanding, harsh words, mean things, strange reactions - a vile combination of all of these plummets the relationship into dark depths. Then comes The Breakup.
Bollywood is rife with romantic comedies that revolve around picturesque individuals. Before all is well and they stroll languidly to the sunset, there's always that Big Fight, which makes the hero and heroine change say harsh things to each other -- often as a result of a misunderstanding.
In a popular "chick-lit" novel titled, 'Bet Me' by Jennifer Crusie, a psychologist, who specialises in relationships, explains this phenomenon to another character: "There's a certain kind of fight that is...a relationship adjustment. You fight, and then reconcile and move closer together. And then fight again, and reconcile. Each time there's a compromise. Each time you grow closer."
The following story may contain some mild spoilers for the film 'Khoobsurat'.
How these leading ladies and gentlemen deal with these fights and breakups in Bollywood, is however, another matter. In most films, the characters are often seen standing in rain, getting wet, drowning their tears in watery streams, like in 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' or 'Kal Ho Na Ho'. Then there are others, like Sonam Kapoor's character Mili Chakravarty in the latest film 'Khoobsurat', who indulges in a gruesome paint-ball fight to get over being heartbroken.
Indian traditional clothes, preferably white, are also known to soothe the pining soul. This was mostly true, in the Bollywood films of '80s and '90s.
The leading lads, however have more or less a fixed formula to get over a breakup. Alcohol. If you want a classic example, it has to be Devdas. That dude literally swam in alcohol. Other things like, rebound sex, tattoos, dance-bars and driving really fast, are some of the ways Bollywood's leading mean deal with heartless ladies.
'Khoobsurat' which is a typical Disney, PG-13 fare, earned our respect in how they portrayed their leading lady Mili. After several transient relationships and consequent breakups, Mili is shown as someone who, while has grown strong, has also learned how to let go of the hurt and learn from her experiences. But doing all of that, she is shown as someone who's not a cynic. She is a hopeless romantic, and believes in true love.
And of course she ends up with a 'happily ever after'. With a Disney prince, no less.
Comments
0 comment