We've had several stories about infidelity over the years in Hindi cinema – some that shocked viewers at the time. Ultimately these are stories about desiring the forbidden, about an uncontrollable passion that seems to snag the interest. The trailer of Gehraiyaan was released recently and the movie starring Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Dhairya Karwa also seems based on the theme of infidelity. Some of these previous Hindi films based on infidelity come to mind:
Rosie (Waheeda Rehman) the impetuous dancer is married to Marco the dry academician but is attracted to the younger more interesting Raju (Dev Anand) the Guide. A film far ahead of its time, it is remembered as much for its brilliant music as it is for its unusual story. Saiyaan beimaan is a lesser-known song from the film but my personal favourite because of its complex classical composition.
Another film ahead of its time, this one explored not only the desire of a woman but also about her personhood and how women are exploited by men in so many different ways. A vulnerably gorgeous Smita Patil, along with Amol Palekar, Anant Nag and Amrish Puri told a story that was unusual and poignant. I have to admit this one stuck in my mind as much for the music as much as the story.
The film showed Amitabh Bachchan in a very different avatar from his usual angry young man roles but it caught people’s fancy because the reel seemed to match real life. There were strong rumours of an affair with Rekha while married to Jaya IRL. And the music by Shiv Hari? Timeless!
This is a little known film starring Dimple Kapadia, Shekhar Kapoor, Meeta Vashisht, Irrfan Khan and others. It was about infidelity where the husband was not neglectful or abusive, but just about a woman exploring her desires, and unusual as such. The real reason this movie lingers in my memory is the spectacular music by Kishori Amonkar.
Rekha in an unusually muted, non-glamorous role, Naseeruddin Shah as the inconstant husband and Anuradha Patel as the gorgeous, romantic poetess: another movie of infidelity with beautiful songs such as this one and many others.
This movie explored the theme of female desire for perhaps the first time in Hindi cinema. The movie with an impressive star cast of Hema Malini, Naseeruddin Shah, Vinod Khanna, Neena Gupta and others, it was a thought provoking and unusually frank film for its time.
Starring Rani Mukherji, Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Preity Zinta this was just a story about complex relationships, the way that they change, sour over time; the way that people become detached and indifferent to each other without what we call ‘just cause’.
Alisha (Deepika Padukone) and Karan (Dhairya Karwa) are a couple and Zain (Siddhant Chaturvedi) and Tia (Ananya Pandey) are engaged, however Alisha and Zain embark on an affair. The movie releases on 11 February 2022 on Amazon Prime video.
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