Suanshu Khurana brings us a beautiful article in The Indian Express. He comments on Mani Ratnam’s ‘Bombay’ released in 1995. I remember watching this film in theatre. Pin drop silence as the first frames roll & then the young man waiting at the fort for this young girl. He isn’t sure if she will come but his soulful song is a masterpiece. ‘Tu hi Re’ by Hariharan & Kavita Krishnamurthy .
Ratnam had used art in the hope of change. He paid a heavy price for it. Also his film was banned in Singapore & Malaysia.
What made it indelible was n’t only the subject it depicted, it did so along with A. R. Rehman’s sound track – a score of conscience that stirred a nation.
The pared beginning with a single flute played by flautist Naveen Kumar, followed by throbbing strings in what was called the ‘Bombay theme’ remains one of the most lasting musical pieces in Indian cinema.
It seems as if Rehman had taken Ratnam’s brief& turned it into a sort of requiem for a city.
He incorporated Western sound but did not reject the folk roots that have always bound the nation & held it in a thrall. ‘Bombay’ is also how the world got to know of A.R. Rehman.
KS Chithra ‘s ‘Kehna hi Kya’ where Shekhar falls in love with Shaila Banu during a wedding. There is the sensuous & fun number ‘Humma’ by Remo Fernandes. The actress follows it to a T, Sonali Bendre.
The iconic Bombay theme grieved, letting one to feel the pain- of losing family, of watching humans kill humans : based on religion … as the rioters asked ‘Hindu ho ya Muslim?’
That question is still being asked. And the killings in the name of religion have continued, so has politics. One wonders if the solution is in Ratnam ‘s love thy Human, extremely simplistic but the only one that makes sense. It told us that ‘being human’ is the only way.
Amidst all that is the haunting, raw score that stirred the nation once. Thirty years later, in Today’s India, a film maker may not be able to make a ‘Bombay’. Which is also why the film & the score remain tender & compelling.
It is a beautiful memory. The brilliance of the fresh actors- Arvind Swami & Manisha Koirala, Mani Ratnam’s handling , A R Rehman & the old name. Nothing is the same today!!!
Asian Entertainment 