Always

A 2011 drama on the 10 most romantic films made. Now I didn’t know about this but the snippets on asian crush on You tube had me curious as to how this tale ends. It is story of a blind girl & a boxer turned parking lot attendant. She comes to the parking lot & brushes against a few bottles that break. He takes her home & that’s how it all starts. He gifts her a dog for company. This pup becomes a huge doggie by the time the story ends.

He is dis-spirited in life & she is bubbly in spite of her blindness. She is operated & wishes to see him first but he is attacked by goons on his way & is badly injured. She starts her new life but keeps on missing him.He watches her from afar from his hospital bed & feels she is doing well. He visits her place in her absence. He is walking with crutches. In the end they meet by the lake , where they always went.

So Ji sub & Han hyo joo have made it a beautiful to watch. It was screened at Busan International film festival in 2011. It was made in Turkish in 2014, Kannada 2015 named ‘Boxer’ & in Hindi 2016 as Do lafzon ki kahani, starring Randeep Hooda & Kajal Aggarwal.

The series of events is natural. There is no triangle. The circumstances are the villian. I remember , ‘Mann’ made in 1999 ,which was loosely based on a 1965 movie ,’Bheegi Raat’ where she gets injured & feels not quite worthy of his love. Is love a sentiment so small that the disability decides or determines the worth. Aamir Khan & Manisha Koirala did a good job but the audience did not like it. That movie again is inspired from a American movie, ‘An affair to remember’ made in 1957. It was a remake of ‘ Love affair’ made in 1939.

In 1979 ‘Sunayana’ was made with Rameshwari, a blind girl who gets back her eyes but Nasiruddin, who helped her, goes to prison. When he returns he finds she is getting married to some one else. With Vijayendra Ghatge in a supporting role.

“Black” the 2005 Hindi movie was about a blind girl, Rani Mukharjee, takes up a challenge to graduate with the help of her teacher, Amitabh Bachchan. It drew inspiration from the work of Helen Keller. It was also based on 1962 film ‘The Miracle worker’.

Blindness has been most often used to either mock or dupe a person but all these above films show character. That ‘s what makes us remember them even today. For a film to be memorable we need the honesty,grit & determination not mere entertainment. Following the path of meaningful cinema, happy viewing!