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Weddings, Saraswati and Swan
Highlights
Weddings, Saraswati and Swan. The event of the week was undoubtedly Aahana Deol’s wedding attended by all of Hema Malini and Dharmendra’s colleagues.
The event of the week was undoubtedly Aahana Deol’s wedding attended by all of Hema Malini and Dharmendra’s colleagues. There was Bachchan pariwar in full attendance, Rekha, Shabana Javed Akhtar, Juhi Chawla and Sonakshi Sinha among others. Amjad Ali Khan, old friend of the family and politicians like Amar Singh and Narendra Modi. I entered the venue at a time the bride and the groom were holding hands and walking, Aahana whispered that this was a strange family event where she had lost her voice and elder sister Eesha Deol had broken her arm.
The cameras went crazy clicking the couple as they walked the red carpet and stopped to seek blessings from singer Asha Bhosle on her way out and Rekha making a grand entry. A special moment was planned by friends of the groom and the bride all waiting in a spiral queue with sparklers in hand to lead the couple to the stage for a cake cutting followed by a long line of guests lined up to bless the couple. The night was young and by the time the celebrations wound up it was almost midnight but the youngsters were full of beans and in no mood to hit the bed.
A day later in a quiet wedding celebration at a hotel at Pawai I bumped into Tanuja and her daughter Kajol. The couple had specifically chosen the date as it coincided with Basant Panchami, considered very auspicious for marriage. Saraswati is the muse of learning, knowledge, source of all creative and artistic energies something that is symbolic of the film fraternity where experts in all fields come together to create a unique form of art. Dressed in White and riding on the swan/ hans who has the special ability to separate milk from water and only drink the milk, which is a metaphor for artistes craving excellence in show business who learn through trial and error to stay away from trappings and focus on work.
Goddess Saraswati also symbolises vak/ speech and cinema is a sum total of music, song and dance. It is said that her four arms represent four facets of human psyche which is mind/ mann, the intellect/ buddhi, the consciousness/ jagrata and ego/aham but most important Goddess Saraswati carries forward a legacy. Just going by the first family in films theatre and film artiste late Prithviraj Kapoor and his three sons Raj, Shammi and Shashi Kapoor have entertained a generation of Hindi cinema audience. Raj Kapoor’s two sons Randhir and Rishi Kapoor married two actresses Babita and Neetu Singh and both opted out of films after marriage.
Innumerable filmmakers, innumerable times tried to revive the ‘Kal Aaj aur Kal’ magic but Randhir Babita refused to come on screen again. Decades passed by and soon elder daughter Karisma Kapoor was ready to face the arc lights in the 90s and younger Kareena Kapoor in the year 2000 and both were sensational.
Rishi Kapoor Neetu Singh was the most popular pair of the 70s cinema but once married Neetu did not want to return to movies again. Her son Ranbir Kapoor knew he wanted to be an actor when he was a little boy and as he grew up he watched his older cousins shine like stars and waited for his turn. Came ‘Saawariyaa’ and a star was born. His parents watched his rise to stardom with pride. Rishi Kapoor was riding season two of his career and was a much in demand actor.
Neetu thought she had bid adieu to arc lights but show business is full of surprises. In 2009 Neetu Singh Kapoor returned to the big screen as suddenly as she had disappeared. First a cameo in a ‘Love Aaj Kal’ opposite her husband and then the lead in ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ and slowly, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor were back as a pair. ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ was special not just because it resurrected a special pair but because it revived middleclass values and most important, saluted a noble profession like Teacher that Hindi cinema has forgotten.
Director Yash Chopra who had worked with both in a number of films had been to cast them for a long time and finally got the opportunity in his last film ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ where Neetu married to Rishi is confronted by her illegitimate daughter Katrina Kaif . Years ago Neetu played a similar role in YRF’s ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ where she goes searching for her biological mother Waheeda Rehman asking why she abandoned her. It was a cameo but their presence lent magic to the moment followed by Ranbir’s co-production ‘Besharam’ wherein Neetu Rishi played Haryani cops.
Ranbir Kapoor has been voted as the Face of the Decade and rightly so. Starting as a besotted lover in ‘Saawariyan’, a playboy in ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, a brat in ‘Wake up Sid’, a crusader in ‘Rocket Singh’, a catalyst in ‘Rajneeti’, a victim in ‘Anjaana Anjaani’, a winner in ‘Ajab Prem ki Gazab Kahani’, a philosopher in ‘Barfee’, a vagabond in ‘Ye Jawani Hai Deewani’ and a wastrel in ‘Besharam’ , he is the most versatile actor of film firmament and even Aamir Khan has gone on record to say that he is full of admiration for the young actor and his choice of films.
In just five years and ten films Ranbir Kapoor has changed the dynamics of show business and when you compliment him he beams and says it is a legacy passed on to the family by Goddess Saraswati.
- Bhawana Somaaya/ @ bhawanasomaaya
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