We have all watched Woh Kaun Thi (1964). The scene when it begins to rain torrentially and, lo and behold, Sadhana (clad in a white saree) asks for a lift from Manoj Kumar is still etched in our cinematic memories. What makes that scene memorable even after all these years is the rainy night. The two strangers in a car, their mysterious banter and the sounds and visuals of pitter-patter. It’s as if director Raj Khosla had cast rain as another character in the cult classic. Here’s our take on when rain wreaked havoc in the lives of movie characters.
100 Days
A dark, rainy night with lightning and thunder. The killer dressed in a black raincoat brutally shoots Rama (Moon Moon Sen) while she is drying her hair in her apartment. Then he carefully disposes of her body by “burying” her in a wall of a mansion. Devi (Madhuri Dixit) keeps getting visions of the death of her sister throughout the film. Call it a huge continuity error, but despite the mysterious murderer carrying Rama’s body in the rain and dumping it in his dicky, as soon as he removes it to carry it inside the haveli, she is dry as a feather. Khair, the bottom point is that the scene becomes 10 times more impactful thanks to the mood established because of the heavy rain.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
I know, I know, THAT sensual dance sequence between Anjali (Kajol) and Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) first comes to mind every monsoon season. However, it is what happens right after Anjali runs away from Rahul as soon as she realises she’s engaged to Aman (Salman Khan) that makes this scene a heavy hitter. She runs and runs and runs in (a forest?) and suddenly stops next to a tree. As she is catching her breath (believe me, we all were), a hand embraces her from behind and she finally says, “I love you so much.” Then thunder, a lightning strike and she (and we, the viewers) see Aman standing there, and he replies, “Hey, I love you too.” Talk about rains ruining things for lovers! Pure cinema drama magic.
Lagaan
In its almost three-hour forty-four-minute runtime, all the villagers have just ONE wish. Rain. The film begins with the clouds teasing the villagers into believing that it is about to get all wet and nice, only for them to realise towards the end of a song that Mother Nature ran a cruel joke upon them. However, after Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) leads Champaner to victory and lagaan maafi (for three years) from the awful angrezi sarkar, lo and behold, it pours and how! Not a single eye was dry in the cinema halls. That’s how impactful this particular rain sequence was. Despite being a Mumbaikar and not being a fan of rains, I remember feeling a sense of euphoria like never before.
Baazigar
The very first shot of this cult classic is little Ajay Sharma (Sumeet Pathak) running on a torrid rainy night into a dawakhana, pleading with a doctor to come with him to save his mom’s (Rakhee) life. All the tragedy that occurs in young Ajay’s life is on rainy nights! Towards the climax of the film, when Priya (Kajol) confronts a now-adult Ajay (Shah Rukh Khan), who is masquerading as Vicky Malhotra, he tells her, “Mujhe aaj bhi wo raat yaad hai, jab tumhare baap ke keher ki aakhri bijli mere parivar par giri thi.” His father (Anant Mahadevan) dies of a heart attack while stepping out to sell Rakhee’s mangalsutra. Rakhee then finds a two-wheeler cart, puts his body on it and attempts to run towards a hospital. The wheels break, his body falls out and he dies. Her newborn daughter (in little Ajay’s hand) also dies. The scene is raw, emotional and tugs on the viewers’ emotions. The gloomy atmosphere makes it even more menacing.
