It’s an old story but relevant right now to understand the cinema rolled out by Yash Raj Films.
When Yash Chopra decided to give a break to Raza Murad’s tender young niece Bakhtavar, she was no celebrity kid. Yash took hero Rishi Kapoor into confidence for the audition he had in mind. What he shared with him was something like, “Chintu, when I say, ‘Now’, grab her and kiss her.” A director’s hero, Rishi did as instructed. The under-15 in the filmmaker’s room was caught unawares but went along and did the kiss without a murmur. Bakhtavar passed the audition, bagged a multi-star-cast film called Vijay and became actress Sonam in 1988.
Some of Yash Chopra’s most iconic movies have been Deewaar, Kabhi Kabhie, Trishul and Chandni, films that starred stately heroines like Waheeda Rehman, Hema Malini, Raakhee, Poonam Dhillon and Sridevi, movies you remember to this day for their wonderful music and dance. Even the “D” films Yash later directed or produced with Shah Rukh Khan, Darr (1993), Dilwale Dulhaniye Le Jayenge (1995) and Dil Toh Pagal Hai (1997), were embellished with performances and music. The feisty choreography of DTPH also changed the way Hindi cinema danced.
Yet, there was a time when Yash had decided that to turn trendy, a “bikini-plus-smooch” was the right formula. It did not come organically to him, he was an old-world Punjabi. But besides Sonam, who was on debut, Meenakshi Seshadri, already a star, also did her first screen kiss in Vijay. It didn’t go well. Vijay was neither a blockbuster nor memorable.
In fact, Yash returned to form when he concentrated on a clean, young Shah Rukh Khan, fresh off the boat, and the audience went orgasmic over romance oozing out of outstretched arms. These were Yash’s real blockbusters, unerasable in audience memory.
A bikini+kiss seems to have been Aditya’s brainwave. After a refreshing family watch like DDLJ, he had a glamour line-up with Preeti Jhangiani, Kim Sharma and Shamita Shetty for Mohabbatein. Shilpa Shetty’s sister did the mandatory smooch to get her break. But no lessons were learnt even though the only recall value of Mohabbatein remains the dignified trio of Amitabh Bachchan-SRK-Aishwarya Rai, not any of the nubile girls Adi introduced.
Say “Dhoom” and the vision that pops up has Esha Deol shedding her inhibitions to get into yellow swimwear. But Hema and Dharmendra’s daughter could get away with a no-kiss request and no blatant bikini. But the franchise itself spelt glamour. When Aishwarya wanted a Dhoom break in her pre-Abhishek days, she signed a contract that stipulated Adi’s formula. It was Ash’s first and only full-fledged screen kiss.
Dhoom worked as a franchise, not always because of the formula. Adi’s mix continued with Sonam Kapoor in Bewakoofiyaan and Vani Kapoor in Befikre, films that didn’t bring in the audience. However, Adi stays undeterred. And so, with the heat on Deepika Padukone’s saffron bikini and her pelvic gyrations with SRK in the new film Pathaan, it’s Adi once again putting out his formula. Deepika doesn’t really need this break but neither the wardrobe nor the moves are new territory for the actress who’s seasoned at what she does.
Besides, SRK is the man who gave her a break with Om Shanti Om 15 years ago.
There is another factor at work here.
SRK is a heroine’s hero — he makes them comfortable in whatever the scene, his “touch” and his gaze always gentlemanly. I’ve not heard of any lady squirming over an off-colour remark or an X-ray look from him. Unlike the heroes of the 70s and 80s, who’d keep their wives at home and smirk at their heroines.
The debate over the colour of Deepika’s bikini, which is only one of her many outfits in the song, and the outburst over the physically intimate dance moves will divide the audience in January.
But it’s like foreplay, the full-on action still under the sheets. Meanwhile, Adi and Team Pathaan have got what they set out to do — they’ve grabbed the eyeballs.
Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author
