Lamhe - selfmedication Bollywood Style

Wanna know the perfect movie to watch when the long overdue flu has caught up with you and you spend your well deserved sick days at home in bed? Lamhe. Kyon? Kyon ki it´s long, it´s slow, it´s heartwarming, the music makes you happy and you can blame the red eyes and nose from heavy crying to the cold.










Virendra Pratab Singh has just turned 18 (Anil in 1991! - a bit hard to digest but who cares) when his Daijaa takes him for the first time to his ancestal mansion in Rajasthan. Being brought up in the West his level of facination for his legacy is pretty low. In fact he spends his time mostly indoors whining about the heat and the sand. Until. Until he spots a lovely local girl dancing in the rain and generally having a good time.









Good thing it turns out that the girl is Pallavi (Sridevi) the bubbly daughter of his late dads best friend a local Thakur. And since he´s young and his homones are in overdrive he falls head over heals for the khoobsurat ladki. Little does it matter to him that she is some years older then him (and will later become his sister-in-law in real life) Still, he does not confess his love her her but silently enjoys every minute he gets to spend with her. Then destiny starts to throw in the usual heavy obstacles in the stories way. Some evil relatives of the Thakur cause him to die of a heart attack not before he made Anil the caretaker of his daughter. Bingo. You´d think.









Turns out ladki already is in love with a spruce Airforce pilot and so Anil draws back and even though hearbroken makes it possible for them to get married. Story khatm? Not by far.
Destiny strike two. Only about nine months later the young couple dies in/after an accident. (Evidence to the fatality of Sridevis injuries? One lone blood infusion hanging beside her bed AND an oxygen bottle)









On her deathbed Shridevi puts her newborn daughter in the hands of Daijaa and Anil to be brought up under their wing.

INTERVAL.

Fast foreward 18 years. Anil is still unmarried and for these 18 years managed to avoid meeting his ward. But the sweet girl has had it with his attitude. On her 18th birthday (the 18th anniversary of her mothers death) she finally comes face to face with her caretaker whom she heard so much about. And falls head over heals in love with him. Ek baraa problem hai. She is the spitting image of her mother (not really difficult to portray since Pooja is played by Sridevi as well) And Anil has real difficulties to adjusting to that. He still blames her somehow for the death of the love of his life. Yup, it isn´t easy for him. Daijaa and Pooja relocate to England to Anil´s house and Pooja unaware of Anil´s love for her mother innocently starts to pursue her jaan.










Aided by Anils best friend Anupam Kher they try to break down the emotional Berlin Wall that Anil has built around his heart. And in that course also get rid of Anita the woman who also waits to be married by Anil.









Lamhe is not the most exciting of movies out there. Its slow and pretty far fetched in parts. And I guess the 19 years age difference between Anils character and Pooja is a bit much for many viewers. But what still makes it a must see is an unleashed Sridevi. And the songs. I can´t decide which one I love most. Especially the ones in the first half are great. All of them.
Btw. Lamhe is supposed to be Karan Johars favorite Yash Chopra film. And you can see in his own work that he´s heavily influenced by it. It´s one of my favorite tearjerkers too. So my suggestion? Watch it. You don´t even need a flu to enjoy it. But keep the tissues within reach. You´ll never know when that nasty cold will strikes.