It was probably the real-life rumors surrounding Silsila that peaked my curiosity over the actual movie itself. Whether there is any truth to them or not remains unknown(and quite irrelevant when judging the film), but it certainly made things a bit more interesting to watch.
I promise not to go on a tangent about the real life drama, because I want to give a productive review on this film (and I'm sure everyone's tired of hearing about it already), but there is just one thing I'm insanely curious about...If Amitabh and Rekha's alleged real life affair was such a hot rumor in Bollywood at this time, why on earth would Jaya agree to do this film? Was she proving to everybody that she was confident in her husband's faithfulness? Or did the rumors start going around after the release of the film? And for that matter, why would Amitabh agree to it? Almost makes the rumors seem ridiculous, doesn't it? If those of you who grew up on Bollywood can shed some light on this, I'd really like to know!
But let's talk about Silsila. I'm trying to branch out and slowly roll back into the Bollywood films from decades past, so I really haven't seen many, and I'm still not sure Silsila was a very good place to start. It wasn't an amazing story, but it was still likeable due to the performances, some of the music, and the way the script seemed to flow (I probably don't know much about what constitutes a tight script, but if I had to guess, I would say this one delivers since it stuck to the point and was easy to follow).
As Carla's post states in much more accurate detail, Rekha was the one disappointment in the group. I was surprised because I had been so impressed with her in Umrao Jaan and was expecting another memorable performance. Instead we get Chandni, which she still played with her classic sensuality, but who came across as doing little more than clinging desperately to Amitabh Bachchan. Don't get me wrong, though...I still find the woman's allure to be absolutely fascinating. There's just something bewitching about her, and I can imagine she was the fantasy of many a men in her day.
On the other hand, one of my favorite performances of the film came from Jaya Bachchan, in the scene where her husband tells her about the affair. She did this twisty thing with her mouth like she was going to cry, and I thought it was very believable.
The songs in Silsila were entertaining, especially since I found Amitabh and Rekha to be almost picturesque onscreen together. They looked like the Barbie and Ken of 80's Bollywood.
However, the shining point in the film was its ending. Kudos to the writers for trying to make the point about affairs that I feel is so often the glaring truth: Everything is exciting when its forbidden, but once you actually get what you think you want, you realize its not as perfect as you thought it would be (as opposed to a movie like KANK, which got that part all wrong).
And, last but not least, here comes the makeup artist in me (because I just couldn't hold it in any longer). If you want to duplicate Rekha's to-die-for lips in Silsila, try Desire lipglass from MAC with Vino or Currant lipliner.
You can thank me later.
Text © Copyright 2008 Nida Nazir
Bitten By Bollywood
