''Silsila'' () is a 1981 Indian
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
-language
romantic drama
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...
film co-written, directed, and produced by
Yash Chopra
Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian people, Indian film director and film producer who worked in Bollywood, Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chop ...
. The story revolves around the love triangle of Amit (
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...
), a romantic playwright, Shobha (
Jaya Bachchan
Jaya Bachchan (''Birth name, née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party, serving four terms since 2004. Known primarily for her work in Hindi ...
), his wife, and Chandni (
Rekha
Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 fil ...
), his former partner. ''Silsila'' follows the incidents faced by Amit and Shobha in their forced marriage, which drifts them apart, and his encounter with Chandni that leads to an extramarital affair. The soundtrack was composed by
Shiv–Hari, with lyrics from
Javed Akhtar
Javed Akhtar (born 17 January 1945) is an Indian poet, lyricist, screenwriter and political activist. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 200 ...
,
Hasan Kamal
Hasan Kamal (born 1 January 1943) is an Indian lyricist and songwriter. The recipient of numerous awards, including Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 1985 for the title song of the film '' Aaj Ki Aawaz'' (1984), he started his career in 198 ...
,
Meera Dev Burman,
Nida Fazli
Muqtida Hasan Nida Fazli, known as Nida Fazli (12 October 1938 – 8 February 2016), was a prominent Indian Hindi and Urdu poet, lyricist and dialogue writer. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013 by the government of India for his contribution t ...
,
Rajendra Krishan
Rajinder Krishan Duggal (6 June 1919 – 23 September 1987) also credited as Rajendra Krishan, was an Indian poet, lyricist and screenwriter.
Biography
Rajinder Krishan was born in a Duggal family at Jalalpur Jattan on 6 June 1919, in Gujrat ...
, and
Harivansh Rai Bachchan
Harivansh Rai Bachchan (; 27 November 1907 19 December 2002) was an Indian poet and writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He is be ...
.
''Silsila'' attracted considerable attention from the media when it was in production due to its casting.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
took place in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
,
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
(now Mumbai),
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, and
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
from November 1980 and May 1981. The film, however, failed at the box office after premiered on 14 August 1981, grossing only . At the
29th Filmfare Awards
The 29th Filmfare Awards were held in 1982.
Films belonging to the Parallel Cinema and Indian New Wave won most of the awards at the ceremony, signaling a trend where filmmakers and audiences were moving towards more meaningful cinema.
''Ek Du ...
, the film received nominations for
Best Actor (Amitabh Bachchan),
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
(Jaya Bachchan), and
Best Music Director (Shiv–Hari). Critically, it received negative notice for the story and the cast's performances.
Plot
Orphaned at a young age, the brothers Shekhar and Amit Malhotra live independently. Shekhar is the squadron leader of the
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
, while Amit is a
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
-based romantic playwright. They have fallen for Shobha and Chandni, respectively, and plan to get married on the same day. However, Shekhar dies in the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the
Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...
, leaving the pregnant Shobha alone. Therefore, an obligated Amit breaks up with Chandni and, in order to avoid social pressure, marries Shobha, leaving Chandni heart-broken.
Tragedy strikes once more after Shobha loses her child in a car accident. She is treated by Dr. Anand, who marries Chandni, surprising Amit. With no child to bind them together, Amit and Shobha drift apart. Amit runs to Chandni and secretly rekindle their romantic relationship. They meet on the sly until a night when Chandni, in a car, driving, with Amit hits a passerby on the way home from a tryst. The police get involved but Amit manages to hush the matter up. However, the affair is endangered since one of the police investigating the accident is Shobha's cousin, who wants to expose them.
Amit decides to not longer continue his loveless marriage and wishes to reconcile with Chandni. The news shatters Shobha, who has genuinely fallen for Amit but believes that her love will make him return. Anand is also aware of Chandni's infidelity and feels devastated. When he leaves on a business trip, Amit and Chandni secretly leave the town to start a new life. Anand's plane, however, crashes and causes them to rush to the wreckage site. There, Amit is confronted by Shobha, who reveals that she is expecting his child. After Anand is rescued, Chandni realises her love for her husband and decides to live together with him. The film ends with Amit and Shobha living happily in their marriage.
Cast
Cast adapted from
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
:
*
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...
as Amit Malhotra
*
Jaya Bachchan
Jaya Bachchan (''Birth name, née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party, serving four terms since 2004. Known primarily for her work in Hindi ...
as Shobha Malhotra
*
Rekha
Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 fil ...
as Chandni
*
Shashi Kapoor
Shashi Kapoor (pronounced əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...
as Shekhar Malhotra
*
Sanjeev Kumar
Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thriller ...
as Dr. V. K. Anand
* Sudha Chopra as Shobha's mother
*
Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Kulbhushan Kharbanda (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in '' Shaan'' (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group 'Yatrik' in the 1 ...
Production
''Silsila'' was directed and produced by
Yash Chopra
Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian people, Indian film director and film producer who worked in Bollywood, Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chop ...
for his banner
Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj Films (YRF) is an Indian film production and distribution company founded by veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra in 1970. It mainly produces and distributes Hindi and Punjabi films. The company has grown to be one of the largest film studios ...
.
He co-wrote the screenplay with
Sagar Sarhadi
Sagar Sarhadi (11 May 1933 – 22 March 2021) was an Indian short story and play writer, and a writer, director and producer for film. Born in Baffa (then in British India and now in Pakistan), he began writing Urdu short stories and then ...
, who also co-wrote the story with Preeti Bedi.
According to Sarhadi, Chopra "fell madly in love with the subject".
The dialogue was written by
Romesh Sharma
Romesh Brij Sharma is an Indian film producer, actor and director. Under his banner Romesh Films, he has been actively involved in the production of films and television shows for over 30 years.
Personal life
His son Karan Sharma is also an a ...
.
The film is about an extramarital relationship, the first time for a
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
-language film; after he failed with action films, Chopra had decided to make a romantic film for his next venture.
Chopra's biographer
Rachel Dwyer
Rachel Dwyer is a professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema at SOAS, University of London.
Life
Dwyer took her BA in Sanskrit at SOAS, followed by an MPhil in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology at the University of Oxford. Her PhD resear ...
described the casting as complicated, for which the film was controversial before release. Speculations about the relationship between Amitabh Bachchan, who was married to Jaya Bachchan, and Rekha was common in gossip magazines and newspapers at the time.
Chopra called his ability to cast the three his greatest achievement.
He initially considered
Parveen Babi
Parveen Babi (4 April 1954 – 20 January 2005) was an Indian actress and model. Recognized for her roles in Hindi films throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Babi was known for her "glamorous" acting style, and was one of the highest-paid ...
and
Smita Patil
Smita Patil (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress who worked in films, television series and theatres. She appeared in over 80 Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam and Kannada films in a career that spanned just o ...
for Rekha's and Jaya Bachchan's parts, respectively, but abandoned the plans owing to their unsuitability in playing their respective roles.
On the recommendations of Amitabh Bachchan, who had agreed to star in the film in 1980, Chopra subsequently replaced them with Rekha and Jaya Bachchan.
Rekha designed her own costumes and jewellery.
This was her final collaboration with Amitabh Bachchan.
''Silsila'' was shot by Raju Kaygee.
Filming was done from November 1980 to May 1981, starting in
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
and later
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
,
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
(now Mumbai), and
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
.
Wanting no exposure from the media, Chopra did the filming privately with the entire cast and crew. He described the production as "real life coming into reel life"
but said that there are no incidents on the sets and all the lead actors were co-operative.
The Delhi schedule sometimes took place at 5.30 PM when the weather was cold; Rekha recounted how she hated it and that she did so only for Chopra.
The film, edited by Keshav Naidu, runs for 166 minutes.
Hariprasad Chaurasia
Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition.
Early life
Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the ...
and
Shivkumar Sharma
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Ha ...
provided the background score.
Music
The soundtrack to the film, released by
Saregama
Saregama India Ltd. (Saregama refers to the first four notes of the Indian musical scale); formerly known as The Gramophone Company Of India Ltd. is India's oldest music label owned by the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group of companies. The company i ...
on 18 May 1981, was composed by
Shiv–Hari.
The lyrics were by
Javed Akhtar
Javed Akhtar (born 17 January 1945) is an Indian poet, lyricist, screenwriter and political activist. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 200 ...
,
Hasan Kamal
Hasan Kamal (born 1 January 1943) is an Indian lyricist and songwriter. The recipient of numerous awards, including Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 1985 for the title song of the film '' Aaj Ki Aawaz'' (1984), he started his career in 198 ...
,
Meera Dev Burman,
Nida Fazli
Muqtida Hasan Nida Fazli, known as Nida Fazli (12 October 1938 – 8 February 2016), was a prominent Indian Hindi and Urdu poet, lyricist and dialogue writer. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013 by the government of India for his contribution t ...
,
Rajendra Krishan
Rajinder Krishan Duggal (6 June 1919 – 23 September 1987) also credited as Rajendra Krishan, was an Indian poet, lyricist and screenwriter.
Biography
Rajinder Krishan was born in a Duggal family at Jalalpur Jattan on 6 June 1919, in Gujrat ...
, and
Harivansh Rai Bachchan
Harivansh Rai Bachchan (; 27 November 1907 19 December 2002) was an Indian poet and writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He is be ...
.
"Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum" was one of the songs sung by
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...
in her concert "Lata Live". Akhtar, who previously collaborated with
Salim Khan
Salim Abdul Rashid Khan (born 24 November 1935) is an Indian actor, film producer and screenwriter. As a screenwriter, he wrote the screenplays, stories and scripts for numerous Bollywood films. Khan is one half of the prolific screenwriting d ...
in screenwriting, turned to lyrical composition and "Dekha Ek Khwab" was his first written song. Akhtar was chosen after Chopra hearing his poetry and being astonished by it. "
Rang Barse Bhige Chunar Wali
"Rang Barse Bhige Chunar Wali" (Hindi: रंग बरसे भीगे चूनर वाली) is a popular 1981 Hindi song from Bollywood movie '' Silsila''. The song "Rang Barse Bhige Chunarwali" which Amitabh Bachchan sings during the f ...
" became one of the most-played songs in the
Holi
Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...
celebration.
Release and reception
''Silsila'' was released on 14 August 1981 and failed at the box office, which Chopra believed due to the audience's attentions mostly given to the controversy, resulted by the casting, rather than the plot. Around a week later, a screening was held at the
Mumbai Metro
The Mumbai Metro is a rapid transit (MRT) system serving the city of Mumbai and the wider Mumbai Metropolitan Region in Maharashtra, India.Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is responsible authority for maintaining the metro system ...
and collected , with being donated to the
Nargis Dutt Foundation
The Nargis Dutt Foundation (NDF), also known as Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation, is a non-governmental organization, founded in 1981. It is headquartered in Mumbai, India.
The organization works toward health care, disaster relief, women's empowe ...
.
Sunil Sethi of ''
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
'' criticized the cliché storyline and called the cast uninteresting. In his review, Sethi concluded,
"But ''Silsila'' itself is pure polyester yarn. It's a lot less real than the so-called dirty, distorted and damaging stories that appear in the gossip press which the stars claim are so distressing. At least they read better, look better and may be include half-truths here and there. ''Silsila'' looks good, too, but is a distortion of half-lies, which is worse."
Dwyer wrote that Amitabh Bachchan's then-popular screen persona as an "angry young man", which he got from ''
Deewaar
''Deewaar'' () is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language action crime film directed by Yash Chopra and written by Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar). It stars Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Neetu Singh, Nirupa Roy and Parveen Babi. The film ...
'' (1975), was incompatible with his role in ''Silsila'' as a lover.
The film received three nominations at the
29th Filmfare Awards
The 29th Filmfare Awards were held in 1982.
Films belonging to the Parallel Cinema and Indian New Wave won most of the awards at the ceremony, signaling a trend where filmmakers and audiences were moving towards more meaningful cinema.
''Ek Du ...
:
Best Actor (Amitabh Bachchan),
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
(Jaya Bachchan), and
Best Music Director (Shiv–Hari). It marked the beginning of the setback in Chopra's career; in spite of this, he called ''Silsila'' one of his favourite films in a 2011 interview.
References
External links
*
''Silsila''at
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000.
The website provides ...
{{Yash Chopra
1981 films
1980s Hindi-language films
1981 romantic drama films
Films directed by Yash Chopra
Films scored by Shiv-Hari
Yash Raj Films films
Films about adultery in India
Indian romantic drama films
Indian aviation films
Films shot in Amsterdam
Films shot in Delhi
Films shot in Mumbai