The most memorable Holi moments of Bollywood!

If Bollywood has used one festival to create remarkable situations and dramatic moments to its fullest capacity, and continues to do so with aplomb, then it is undoubtedly the festival of colours. Holi is not just beautiful when recreated on the silver screen, the epic scenes and nerve-wrecking twists woven around it have remained etched in the memories of film aficionados. You name the genre - comedy, romance, drama or violence; there is none that does not own some of its most evergreen moments to this festival. Here are some of the classic Bollywood scenes associated with Holi.

Darr
For every woman of the 1990s ‘Darr’s Holi sequence was bone-chilling horror. When a stalker walks up to Kiran and rubs colour on her cheeks and says “I love you KKKK...Kiran”. Then at that moment, it is neither love nor fun - it is pure horror. The chase between Sunny Deol and Shah Rukh Khan (SRK), the post-Holi song was again one of the most memorable action scenes of the 90s. In fact, SRK has confessed that years later, he tried to create the same effect with ‘Fan’. Only the fans were not so impressed this time around. Probably the magic and colours of Holi were not there - that is why.

Silsila
Yashraj Films’ most epic contribution to the aura of Holi is not in ‘Darr’. “Rang barse”, India’s national Holi anthem remains the most unparalleled Holi fervour song till date. For all jazz and high techno stuff available to music lovers; till date, entire India breaks into this song repeatedly on the day of Holi. On the screen, however, this was again a song, which was not just all masti. During the song Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri discover the most painful fact of their respective marriages that their partners do not exactly believe in loyalty or the stable silent love they have to offer. “Rang Barse” is epic because of the way Yash Chopra used Holi to take a major plot point forward. One really doubts - minus Holi, if ‘Silsila’ could have had its most complicated plot situation executed any better.

Sholay
This is the ultimate epic movie. For all the inflated crores earned by today’s movies, none matches the cult status and the culture that ‘Sholay’ has created. The movie’s biggest high drama moment comes on the day of Holi. When Jai and Veeru discuss how Thakur and his family has been inhumanly brutalised by the dreaded dacoit Gabbar Singh. In fact, the entire twenty-odd minutes are woven around the festival of Holi. How a village enjoying its brief moment of fun and frolic turns into mayhem when Gabbar chooses to attack them with guile and surprise. Holi remains remarkably interwoven with the plot when Jai uses colours to briefly blind Gabbar and mount a gutsy counterattack, which makes the over confident rugged Gabbar to flee. Holi remains in the background, not just for that one must play a song that ‘Sholay’ had. Salim-Javed used the festival brilliantly and Ramesh Sippy’s vision created, within the same festival, such a wide range of drama that the Holi sequence of ‘Sholay’ is up there in celluloid legends of Bollywood. A lot many of us remember this Holi moment only for the chemistry of Veeru and Basanti while it also had a beautiful subtle parallel romantic track of how a stoic, devil-may-care attitude Jaidev falls for the suffering woman called Radha. Those silent exchanges as Radha watches Jaidev play Holi is worth a million flirting words. ‘Sholay’ also used Holi, again, to bring out how Radha’s personality and life turned upside down.

Damini
A servant woman gets raped on the day of Holi in a rich, powerful family. Thus begins one of the finest written onscreen battles of “right vs wrong”. Damini’s world comes crashing down on this festival as she has to choose between blind family loyalty, and justice for a helpless woman. In fact, a brief reference to the Holi festival is played out in the court again when the slimy lawyer tries to fudge the case by producing coloured faces as people would have while playing Holi in front of Damini, who is the only eyewitness. He challenges Damini to identify the culprits from coloured faces and Damini fails, only temporarily of course.

Namak Haraam
If you thought Holi was used by Bollywood only for tension and drama effect; then you obviously have not seen the epic Holi moments of ‘Namak Haraam’. Due to the aftereffects of “bhang” Rajesh Khanna thinks his hands have become fixed and Asrani, his another bhang-mate, is convinced he is going to fly. The drama goes on until Rekha uses a broomstick as psychotherapy. Of course, the “Nadiya se dariya” the epic Kishore Kumar and Rahul Dev Burman song is again a celebration of Holi.

Baaghban
Just when we all thought that Amitabh will never be able to match his act of “Rang barse”; out of nowhere, in 2004, came this sleeper hit called ‘Baaghban’. A movie, which had a strong message that romance does not have any age, was delivered with such infectious energy by Amitabh in “Holi khele Raghuveera” that you almost envy this man’s luck with Holi. ‘Sholay’, ‘Silsila’ and ‘Baaghban’ – which other actor has such a bag of Holi hits! Or which other actor was blessed so much by the Holi gods?

Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani
That Holi songs means a guarantee of a chartbuster is evident yet again from the “Balam pichkari” song in this only 100 crore plus movie that Ranbeer Kapoor had until then, acted in. This is again not just a Holi song but set around the festival, the lead pair’s attraction for each other grows. Just when the revelry of Holi ends the hero also reveals to his closest buddy that they both will go their own separate ways.

Kati Patang
Rajesh Khanna owed his superstar status to a large extent to Shakti Samanta and ‘Kati Patang. The Holi moment was one of the high points of ‘Kati Patang’. The hero accidentally ends up putting colour in a widow’s “maang” and the whole society comes gunning for him. This sequence is also probably Hindi cinema’s most underrated feminist stand, where a young man takes up the case of a widow having the right to live her life again.

Saudagar
The long-running feud between Rajeshwar Singh and Veer Singh reaches its climax on the day of Holi. When Rajeshwar decides to end years of violence and win back his long lost friend by throwing colour on his face. As is probably the standard procedure the Holi festivity continues with both of them singing “Imli ka boota”. ‘Saudagar’ is an epic movie, which had its entire climax stretching around burning of Holika and then the next day celebrations. ‘Saudagar’s climax was a brilliant mixing of the final plot moments with this festival.

Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela
Sanjay Leela Bhansali does not know how to be subtle, so when his pomp-fused with Holi in ‘Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela’, the audience saw an explosion of colours. Also given the chemistry of Ranveer and Deepika the Holi song based romance of Ram and Leela remains one of the high points of the movie. The audiences absolutely fell in love with the mood of Holi and “lahu munh lag gaya”. After the audacious flirting of Veeru with Basanti on Holi, this one is one of our better made Holi romance songs. In this one, Leela was equally participative – Basanti was hard to get.

Jolly LLB 2
‘Jolly LLB 2’ the latest Akshay Kumar hit also draws its major plot point around this festival. He has just tricked a trusting client into paying a hefty fee and purchased his own chamber in the court. Just as the fun and dance of Holi ends, Jolly is confronted by this woman, who kills herself on the same day. A festival that brings hope and happiness comes with a tragedy and a wake-up call for Jolly. Holi again provided drama to this mass hit.