Silsila : A review

Living in eighties and nineties India it was hard to avoid watching Silsila. The movie and its songs were always on some channel or the other. I absolutely could not stand watching Amitabh Bachchan and never found out what his appeal was. Still don't. I waited 40 years before taking the plunge to watch Silsila and decided to watch it on whim the other day when I saw it on Amazon Prime. 

Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor in Silsila (1981)

Yash Chopra's 1981 romantic classic ventured into the taboo area of extra marital affair and had Amitabh Bachchan, the reigning super star of Bollywood at the helm. Watching the movie now, I am amazed how some of Amitabh's mannerisms are reflected in Shah Rukh Khan. Although I have heard this mentioned before this is the first time I have noticed the similarity. 

Rekha and Sanjeev Kumar in Silsila

The movie fared below average when it was released in 1981, probably because it almost succeeded in having the audience empathize with the cheating husband and the other woman. Not exactly the kind of film the audience want to concede that they related to, considering how sacrosanct the institution of marriage was in India in the late 20th century. It is regarded as a classic now.

The screenplay is smooth, the actors have given great performances. It is a treat to watch Sanjeev Kumar and Shashi Kapoor, the other big name stars in addition to the love triangle trio of Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan and Rekha. It was quite a casting coup that YRF achieved by casting the real life couple Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan together alongside Amitabh's alleged mistress Rekha in exactly the same roles as IRL 

Here are some gossip column snapshots about the film, from way back machine.

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Amitabh Bachchan in The Great Gatsby

Amitabh Bachchan does a peek-in-peek-out role in Baz Luhrmann's yet to be released 2013 version of The Great Gatsby. In the trailer you can watch him at 1:09 -1:18.

In Bachchan's own words, " My role is hardly of a minute. Baz Luhrmann was touring India on a motorcycle couple of years ago..going all over the country. He dropped in at my office with a friend who did some painting work for me. We just had a casual conversation and he left. A year-and-half ago he called me and said he has a small role for me, which he felt was not worthy for me. He asked if I would do it and I readily agreed. I did it as a gesture. It is not remunerative...I have not charged anything...just a gesture." He essays the role of the gangster Meyer Wolfshiem who I don't remember seeing the first Gatsby(1974), directed by Jack Clayton and starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.

Luhrmann's Gatsby has the ultimate period hero of all times - Leonardo DiCaprio with Carey Mulligan and Tobey McGuire. It is interesting to see Indian actors in non-Indian roles in Bollywood.

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