Subhash K Jha Looks back at Suneel Darshan’s Barsaat, which starred Bipasha Basu, Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra that released in 2005.
At a filmy picnic the disgruntled husband Bobby Deol who wants to divorce his stunningly desirable wife Priyanka Chopra (only God and the scriptwriter know why anyone would want to do something so fool-hardy) is asked, “What’s the Hindi word for divorce?”
Talaq, comes the grumpy answer.
“Nope,” replies the wife with a coolness that caresses the film’s Himachal breeze. “Talaq is an Urdu word. We don’t have a Hindi word for dirvorce because the concept is alien to our culture.”
You may not agree with Kajal, a.k.a Priyanka Chopra and the pungent bumper-sticker wisdom that’s thrust on her gorgeous lips by dialogue writers K.K. Singh and Rumi Jaffrey. But you sure as hell can’t take your eyes off this luscious lass as she weaves her uncanny instincts around a role that requires her to be coy and captivating, strong and sobbing , demure and dynamic…all at once and once for all.
Priyanka has grown into a formidable screen queen . In Barsaat she reveals that rare ability which Sridevi possessed to rise above the screen material and lack of support from co-stars to prove herself a complete scenestealer… or shall we say, scene-‘steeler’ since she lifts many of the most mundane moments in this old fashioned, at-times quaint, at-times pale melodrama.
It’s easy and trendy to be ultra-cynical about a film like Barsaat where the values propagated and the images generated seem to have emanated from a frozen time-warp of movie montages that date back to the oldest tradition of the kitschy formula.
And yet to deny the archaic magnetism of Barsaat is to deny the most renewable traditions of Hindi cinema.
Amidst a wild torrent of indifferent Nadeem-Shravan songs that pin down the plot like rapists’ hands, Barsaat is a film that manages to squeeze in an important message for deserted wives. Don’t pine for the swine. Make hay while the sun shines.
No Shabana Azmi in Arth…. And yet Priyanka Chopra is no walkover either. When her wimpish husband (Bobby Deol, suitably cast) forces the wife to sign the divorce papers she immediately builds a new life for herself, and smilingly returns the cheque that hubby-dear wants to give his dumped wife as a conscience pacifier.
Deol’s passage to spousal indifference could have been charted more convincingly. When he moves to the US (city unnamed) to pursue his dreams , sell car-designs to BMW and gets engaged to the rich heiress Anna (Bipasha Basu, looking slim and svelte ) is he just being a cardboard cad? Or does Deol tokenize the very real and contemporary dilemma of the average small—towner who wants to get ‘there’?
Is the film’s indecisive protagonist( his destiny is controlled by the two temptresses in his life) a Bunty in search of a distant Babli?
Director Suneel Darshan’s vision impales the three main characters in a familiar and played-out triangle. The focus of interest isn’t what’s being said, but what the torrent of spoken words and the saturated background score (Salim-Suleiman) would like us to hear beyond the shrill clarioin call of a shehnai that the filmmaker plays as a sort of a old-world shaadi ke bard.
There’re constant if unconscious homages to the cinema greats. The shaadi song where Kajal dresses up her rival in love as a bride and sings and dances at her own husband’s wedding (see how Priyanka takes on THE COMPETITION) conveys the echoic if archaic enchantment of Raj Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili. …And when Bobby Deol commands his utterly devoted wife to sign on the divorce paper he reminds you of Rakesh Roshan ruthlessly demanding separation from Smita Patil in J.Om Prakash’s Aakhir Kyon.
From Raj Kapoor to J.Om Prakash…Suneel Darshan’s vision encompasses the best of mainstream Hindi cinema. But that forward fillip that separates a fulfilling homage from a slapdash recreation is largely absent.
The fringe characters (e.g Bipasha’s giggly saheli and Bobby’s turbaned sidekick) are stereotypes that belong to an outdated time-zone. But you’ve to hand to Darshan. He knows the filmy formula in and out. What use he makes of it is another matter.
Suneel’s Jaanwar and Andaaz were both hits in the second and third level cities as much as the metros. But he feels slighted and unacknowledged by the media.
“I have stopped thinking about why I am not given my due. It doesn’t bother me as long as the audiences are with me,” he said, sounding far from bitter on the eve of the release of his new film to the writer, Barsaat where Suneel’s favourite hero Akshay Kumar was substituted by Akshay’s buddy Bobby Deol.
Suneel sighs and reveals: “Akshay went through personal problems (there was a rumour that he was involved with Priyanka Chopra). We started shooting with Akshay and Priyanka. We shot a song with them. After that the film kept getting delayed as Akshay sorted out his dilemma.”
Suneel is protective about his blue-eyed boy. “You have to understand it was a grave domestic issue for Akshay. Otherwise he’d have never walked out of the film. He couldn’t have let me down after the way I’ve stood by him over the years. The provocation had to be very serious.”
“His (Akshay’s) behaviour did cause problems for me professionally. When a filmmaker invests so much in a film, he’s within his rights to expect loyalty from his actors. But then personal dilemmas have to be sorted out before professional loyalties are considered…I don’t blame Akshay for anything. But, yes, his 11th hour, in fact, 13th hour back-out did cause havoc in my film,” he said.
“First he insisted that I sign no actor but him. Then he dropped out. Thank god, Bobby bailed me out… Someday I’ll edit the song I shot with Akshay in Barsaat and use it somewhere.”
Bobby was meant to be part of another Suneel project.
“But after Barsaat was hero-less, Bobby felt he was meant to be in another film called Barsaat. After all, he had started his career with a film of that title. Destiny willed that he come back to a film called Barsaat. And look at the coincidence. Both the films with Bobby have music by Nadeem-Shravan. I’m sure this Barsaat will bring Bobby back.”
Suneel speaks fondly of his permanent music composer duo Nadeem-Shravan.
“I’ve always been a Nadeem fan. He is par excellence. He has a proven track record in the last 15 years. They’ve out-priced themselves lately, what with the music industry crashing. I have my own label now to release my music. It ensures that my music doesn’t suffer in the market.”
It is obvious that Akshay was Suneel’s favourite.
“I feel I’ve played a hand in shaping his career. In my hit Andaaz, Akshay was alone with Priyanka and Lara. I’m sure he didn’t mind sharing his success with the ladies.”
Incidentally, the Barsaat hero is named Aarav, which is Akshay’s son’s name.
“I can’t say it’s a coincidence. It’s just that I liked the sound of Aarav, which happens to be Akshay’s son’s name. I’m not trying to flatter him. I’ve never done that to any hero, not even to Sunny Deol with whom I shared a very warm friendship until things soured between us due to monetary considerations. I’ve never flattered Akshay for anything except to get a good shot out of him.”
Chuckles Suneel: “This was the first time Bipasha Basu and Priyanka were doing ‘performing’ parts. We introduced Priyanka in Andaaz. After that she has been playing oomphy-seductive characters in films like ‘Aitraaz’ and ‘Waqt’. I felt it was time for me to try to take her career forward. Barsaat does the needful.
“Both girls are cast in strong dramatic roles. But,” adds Suneel hastily, “it does have its share of skin show. If my heroines have good bodies, there’s no harm in showing them as long as it’s done aesthetically. ‘Barsaat’ is a full-on family film. Bipasha and Priyanka have good bodies.
No reason why they shouldn’t flaunt what they have.”
“Bipasha has suddenly re-worked her strategy and physique. As for Priyanka, the film gives her career yet another level.”
The filmmaker says there was never any friction between the two ladies. “They always knew what they had to do and did their own thing without getting into each other’s space.”
Suneel denies there’s a battle between Bipasha and Priyanka. “The two ladies didn’t fight. They meet for just one scene and what a beautiful moment it is. It’s a very sweet and cute film.”
And then after a thought, he adds: “Surprisingly, women play an important part in my films, as they do in any man’s life.”
Suneel is gung-ho about Barsaat.
“The story value is very high. When Priyanka heard the subject, she knew she had to do it. The music is another USP. The film has a very fresh appeal. You don’t expect Bobby to be stripped of action. None of my three stars have done anything like Barsaat before.”
He then proclaims: “At a time when most filmmakers are aping Hollywood, I tried to be original and Indian. I’ve fought the system to achieve what I have. Barsaat has Indian sentiments and is aimed at an upmarket audience. This formula has worked surprisingly well for me in ‘Ek Rishta-The Bond Of Love’ and ‘Andaaz’. My films do as well in the US, Britain, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.”
For Barsaat, Suneel turned worldwide distributor for the first time.
“I’ve struggled hard to survive and swim against the tide. If I had been careless, the sharks would’ve had me for dinner long ago.”
