I was in my early teens when I first saw Lamhe. I just fell in love with this movie; the prime reason being Sridevi—my then favourite actress and of course that universal, exhilarating emotion called “Love”. At that age, you are so much in love with this feeling, that when you see a movie like this you so desperately want to fall in love. Over the years, I have changed and so have my views about love but what hasn’t changed is my adoration for this movie. I do believe that had I seen this movie now I wouldn’t have liked it that much but then impression at a naïve age stays all through the life…
What I think is that it’s sheer poetry on celluloid. In true tradition of Yash Chopra films, the cinematography is simply amazing, with Rajasthan caught in its pristine beauty. The first half is replete with sun-kissed sand dunes of Rajasthan, the chivalric ways of Rajputs, and of course Pallavi(Sridevi)—a beautiful, high-spirited, exuberant Rajput girl; the second half with the verve and energy of London. Be it screenplay, cast, acting, music—this film is Bollywood at its best. But what tugs at the strings of your heart is the complete devotion of Viren(Anil Kapoor) for Pallavi and then Puja’s(Pallavi’s daughter) reverence for Kuwar Ji(Anil Kapoor). It makes us wonder whether we have it in ourselves to love someone so much that we can spend an entire lifetime with the memories of one unrequited love. I know in this age of plastic money, plastic lives and plastic emotions, it’s not remotely possible but then that’s why we watch escapist fare and it’s escapism at its best.
When I first saw the movie, it had been released for two years. Yash Chopra would have recovered from its debacle—the movie which was most close to his heart. Maybe he would have sought consolation from the fact that it did a good business in overseas market. In one of his interviews he said that the movie didn’t work because most people couldn’t take in Viren’s and Puja’s relationship. The common complaint being how can you love the daughter of a woman whom you loved once—many people arguing like she was like his daughter. For all those people, I would say “Na Umar ki seema ho, na janmon ka ho bandhan; jab pyar kare koi to dekhe keval mann”.