Alia Bhatt became Silsila’s lovelorn Chandni as she arrived on the celebratory screening of 1981 traditional, Umrao Jaan, now restored by the Nationwide Movie Growth Company-Nationwide Movie Archive of India below the Nationwide Movie Heritage Mission, and in addition momentously re-released in theatres on June 27.
How Rekha’s styling in Silsila tried to redefine the taboo trope of the ‘different lady'(Pictures: X)
1981, thoughts you, was an enormous 12 months for Rekha on the profession entrance, what with the musical drama profitable her, her solely Nationwide Movie Award for the grace and gravity with which she portrayed the titular function. Additionally having graced the films that 12 months, was Yash Chopra’s Silsila. A morally-grounded but emotionally evocative love triangle, it was fairly the controversial movie on the time — the type of controversy that follows the movie’s legacy throughout a long time, given the general public conjecture surrounding the reel perceptively imitating the ‘actual’.
Amitabh Bachchan starred entrance and centre as Amit, the item of want, sure by responsibility and torn by love with Jaya Bachchan taking part in his demure spouse, Shobha. That left Rekha to embody the crushing aura of unrequited love as she slipped into the footwear of Chandni, the ‘different lady’.
Rekha, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan in a nonetheless from Silsila (1981)(Picture: IMDb)
Chandni’s trajectory in Silsila adopted a winding highway of distress and misfortune as she discovered love, misplaced it to destiny, discovered the braveness to reclaim it for just a few fleeting moments, just for it to be taken away, the one factor left in her possession on the finish of all of it being her grace. And that’s the place the masterstroke lies.
The historical past of cinema, homegrown and overseas, has for many years on finish painted the opposite lady in slightly handy hues. Sultry, seductive and immoral, her selfishness solely stood to signify temptation and wreckage, themes amply embodied in how she introduced herself. Now within the language of cinema, the immorality that the opposite lady tends to signify is as sacred because the morality the spouse reigns on. And that is the place the iconoclastic nature of Rekha’s Chandni wins. Effectively, Chandni would not actually ‘win’, however her presentation to the viewers — a lot of it by the way curated by Rekha herself — goes an enormous little manner in highlighting the complexities of the opposite lady.
Daring reds, rani pinks, luxurious satin and refined bling might not seem to be an enormous deal now, however in context of Silsila’s Chandni, it very probably represented the audacity of a lady to prioritise her personal coronary heart over that of society’s, although the context of it was and continues to be uncontestably abysmal. The reams of tulle, the short-cropped shirt sleeves and the halter necklines, gave hints of pores and skin with out actually permitting the character to descend into the demeaning trappings of the trope. The nearly-constant wine-stained lips and crisply kohl-lined eyes additional pushed the exact same boundaries — all superbly framed by Rekha’s signature gaze of defiant love.
This is not a justification of the rationale of the opposite lady — however an commentary on sartoria getting used to ever-so-subtly imprint her gall on the minds of the viewers. It is an early, and seemingly very intentional case examine of vogue insurrection.
Silsila, with all its grace and contradictions, is offered for streaming on OTT.
