6 Movies where Indian Railways was the star of the Show
From decades Bollywood has produced movies of various genres entertaining the audiences in theaters and multiplexes. The whistles of engine, the frictional sound of wheels and the perfect expressions of the actors performing their scene with unbeatable dialogues are the factors evoking interest of audience in the movie. Bollywood movies have a perfect spice mix of entertainment elements like comedy, tragedy, emotions and dance. There are instances in Bollywood movies where Indian Railways was the star of the show. Super hit movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) has portrayed the everlasting love of Raj and Simran, who finally reunites in train thus displaying their true love. On the other end, there are movies where trains have departed true lovers like Rahul and Anjali of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or the love of Veer and Zaara which was beyond boundaries of the nation. Bollywood has used Railways to display the intrigue, drama, mystery, stunts and even a side of murder in various movies. Here’s a selection of six memorable films in which the Indian Railways features as the main artist which gives a twist in the plot of the movies.
Aradhana (1969)
The movie Aradhana reminds us of the stuffed romantic feelings of Arun Sharma, an Indian Air Force Pilot (played by the legendary actor “Rajesh Khanna”) towards his beloved Vandana (played by beautiful Sharmila Tagore) in the movie. The movie features a song “Mere Sapno Ki Rani Kab Aayegi Tu” which beautifully portrays the scenic beauty of Darjeeling. Vandana enjoying the toy train ride willingly ignores the heroic practices and stunts of Arun, who indirectly refers her as his “sapno ki rani” in the song and matches the speed of his vehicle with the speed of toy train. It’s a must watch song! After the release and success of the movie, Rajesh Khanna was entitled as “King of Romance” in the Bollywood.
The Burning Train (1980)
The burning train was a movie with a mammoth star cast of 40 actors and inspired with by the 1975 Japanese disaster movie “The Bullet Train”. The story revolves around a train called “Super Express” and it’s passengers who were enjoying the train journey by singing, dancing, and happen to be an extremely pally bunch. The movie features a song “Pal do Pal ka Saath Humara” which initiates the feeling of love and warmth between Jitendra and Neetu singh. They were flirting with each other and the co-passengers egg on them. Passengers in the train were happy and enthusiastic throughout but were unaware of the fact that a fire stroke in train will soon hit them and they will be soon rescued from that fatal accident.
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
There’s some deep ingrained relationship of Shahrukh khan and Indian Railways. Dilwale Dulhania le Jayenge is an emotional love story of Raj and Simran played by Shahrukh khan and Kajol and of the greatest hits of the year. The love story starts with a sequence of arguments, clashes and disagreement between the characters, but after their trip to Europe the characters developed a feeling of love and compassion for each other. Unlike other Bollywood movies, the love buds have to face severe complexities and struggle in their relationship. The final fight sequence between Raj and Kuljeet at station makes Simarn’s father realised about his love for simran. And there’s a train for every reel appearance of “King Khan”. The love story ends with simran running on the platform to board a train. Raj, with his outstretched hands stimulates simran to run fast and board the train and finally the love buds meet forever. The scene was shot in Apta Railway Station. This epic train scene became popular and used in many movies. Other movies of Shahrukh khan like Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na (1994), Kuch Kuch Hota Hain (1999), and Chennai Express (2013) have also train sequences which were a crucial part of the story.
Dil Se (1998)
“Chaiyya Chaiyya” is a landmark song which was shot on the train top. The song displays the internal pleasure and euphoria of an “All India Radio” correspondent who develops an infatuation for a mysterious terrorist played by Manisha Koirala. The song was played right after Shahrukh Khan had a glimpse of Manisha Koirala at a station. He breaks on this dance number supported by the gorgeous Malaika Arora. The movie was directed by Mani Ratnam and introduced the audience with one of the challenging actor and an elegant face who won the Filmfare Award for “Best Debutant Female“ and “Best Supporting Actor Female”. She was “Preity Zinta”. The song was so appealing for the Hollywood director “Spike Lee” that he used it in the opening credits of his movie “Inside Man”.
Veer-Zara (2004):
Who can forget this amazing love story of Veer (Shahrukh Khan) and Zaara (Preity Zinta) realizing their love instincts for each other when Zara departed from Atari station to Pakistan? The song “Do Pal” revealed their internal dilemma of passionate love and affection towards each other. It was the Atari railway station where the love story began and ended with a reunion after 20 years when Veer got released from Pakistan jail.
Jab We Met (2007)
Jab we Met was a romcom directed by Imtiaz Ali, showcasing the concern of a vivacious Punjabi girl “meet” (played by kareena kapoor) towards a young but depressed man Aditya (played by Shahid kapoor), who recently had a bitter separation with his love partner. The movie starts with Kareena kapoor trying to board a running train and finally enters the train saying “Thank God Babaji! Mera record hai, aaj tak ek bhi train miss nahi Hui”. On the other end, Shahid Kapoor boards the same train without any plan to journeying. Alas! Might not have downloaded RailMitra app in his phone! A series of humorous scenes in the movie maintains the interest of audience. During the journey, she missed her train and that was the commencement of their love story which started with arguments and dispute, but ended with a note of love and emotion towards each other. It was the train which introduced these two love birds one with a distressed relationship and the other planning to enter in a relationship of marriage. However, they realized their love for each other and united at the end. The movie, recently, completed 11 years and on the occasion it was re-released in the multiplexes of India.
Well, that’s the charm and love for Indian Railways by Bollywood.