“You complete me”, are the three golden words, every girl worth her salt longs to hear, uttered in her reverence. Jerry McGuire has immortalized love with this one line. I want a Jerry of my own, who doesn’t? But not everyone is as lucky as Dorothy or as blessed as Josephine March, of Little women. Not everybody gets her soulmate in her lifetime.

Love is the product of some very serious advertising and marketing by great filmmakers and writers. What is love? How does one know it is the real thing? Do bells ring and rainbows appear in the sky? I have grown up on a staple diet of Hindi movies. Every Sunday 3-6 show, without fail, for as long as I can remember. We are four siblings of the Ranyal clan and my parents had this tradition of sending us all off for the afternoon show every Sunday, come rain or shine.

I think our parents looked forward to these Sunday outings more than us, because it was the only time they got some privacy. So now when I look back at those afternoons I see a symbiotic relationship between us all.

The first movie I remember watching is Pakeezah.Chalo dildar chalo, for someone who was not brought up on this staple diet of Hindi movies, does not understand the extent of influence they exert over your life. The sensitivity and emotions, the expectations and longings are alien to them. When I had seen the train scene, in which Raj Kumar sees Meena Kumari’s feet and writes her a note saying,”Aaap ke paun bahut nazuk hain inhe zameen par mat rakhiyega maile ho jayenge”, had made me break out in goosebumps.I want a similar note. I need someone to have those kinds of feelings for my feet, for me, pour Moi.

Amar Prem’s “Pushpa I hate tears”, brings tears to my eyes, everytime I see a rerun of the movie. Aradhana, Rajesh Khanna’s entry, the background score is pure poetry. I can go on about my favourite scenes of all movies. Kabhie-Kabhie, Amitabh and Shashi Kapoor confrontation scene was mind-blowing. I had fallen in love with Shashi after this movie and Amitabh had gone down a few notches in my opinion.

In Mere Apne, Meena Kumari and Vinod Khanna’s relationship was memorable. Pearl Padamsee in Angoor was a hassled, worried single mom. Rajesh Khanna in Bawarchi, I had longed to live in the house with the dysfunctional family and a miracle worker bawarchi. Mili had made me cry a million tears. Kala Pathar, Amitabh-Rakhee, Yummy. Anand-Babu Moshaye.

My heart throbs ranged from Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Sanjay Khan.Amitabh, Rishi, Ranbir Kapoor.Rahul Khanna and my ultimate hero is Rahul Bose. I had wanted to be in Wayanad, on a treetop cabin with Rahul Bose in MR and MRS IYER.The scene when he goes to get coffee and on his return she puts her head on his shoulder, Freeze the moment. I had wanted Konkona Sen to run off with Rahul Bose in the movie. I had wanted to run off with him,period. In Hum Saath Saath Hain, Salman is my absolute favourite, Sonali and he, priceless.

If there is one movie, which I didn’t find realistic, it’s Baghban.I mean the director tried all possible tricks to make people sympathise with the old couple. But his storytelling skills lacked conviction. One cannot try too much to make a good film; one just does it without trying too hard. There are some directors who have got it, like Karan Johar.I cry every time I see” Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham”. Jaya Bhaduri and Shahrukh Khan are outstanding and their emotional bond is so real and poignant. I have loved all of Karan’s films. The latest movie “Dostana”, has found acceptance in our conservative Indian audience. Kudos to him for attempting to make a movie based on this bold and forbidden topic.

Raj in Jane tu ya Jane Na and Aditi, every girl dreams of a friend cum squeeze like him, who is there in sickness and health. In Bachana Ae Haseeno, Kunal Kapoor stole the show with his soulful eyes and acting. It was the highlight of the movie for me.

Does every girl get her Rahul, Raj, or Jerry McGuire? I don’t know and don’t care, what I do know is, for some, these reel life characters are more real than the ones, they come across in real life. Long live the Cinema. AMEN

Sulekha aka Lucky