RAIL ON A ROLL ( An extract from an article in the May issue of Railbandhu, on the 100th year of Bollywood, by Ruchi Srivastava and Hamari Jamatia, giving a lowdown on the industry's tryst with the tracks)
PART-1
For filmmakers, trains either show the common man's connect to the real India or set the stage for a romance or an action film. A symbol of the changing times, this is where families separate, lovers meet and strangers become friends.
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Ever since cameras first started rolling, the Railways has been captured in movies such as Toofan Mail. and 11 O' Clock . Even now the romance created inside trains in the movie Pakeezah remains unparalleled " says celebrated film director Aziz Mirza.
In the early 90s, when Shahrukh Khan was better known as a TV actor, director Aziz Mirza, catapulted the wild-haired hero on to the silver screen on a train bound from Darjeeling to Mumbai/ The train not only reached the Commercial Capital bit made its way to the hearts of cinema-goers who lapped up the role played by Khan.
More than 20 years later, Mirza remembers the opening song with the train, Dil Hai Mera Deewana from Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992) and says that his attempt remains a small stepping stone in a long tradition of romance between Bollywood and the railways.
For the director, the Railways (train coaches, engines & tracks) is a metaphor for a " journey to infinity" as a train trip opens an infinite number of possibilities. Quoting a simple example, Mirza says that when we touch railway tracks, we touch the soul of the country because the trains that run on those lines have travelled across the length and breadth of the nation, experiencing many emotions and sensations.
" If you listen to the song from Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman closely, it says Meri Manzil Door Hai , Par Jana Zaroori Hai , train travel takes you into a journey and leads you to your destination, " Mirza adds.
The director says he is truly impressed by yesteryear movies such as Toofan Mail (1942) and Aradhana (1969) where the train sequences give the movies their best moments.
(To be contd.............)