Five Holi sequences from Bollywood movies that stand out

by Shivendra Singh · March 6, 2015

Moments stand out when it comes to Holi and play out a totally different tale that can possibly be without the heady mix of colour, song, dance and general atmosphere of permissiveness.

There’s lot more to Holi than just happy songs and happier dances; especially in Bollywood. Moments stand out when it comes to Holi and play out a totally different tale that can possibly be without the heady mix of colour, song, dance and general atmosphere of permissiveness.

Thereby, we say, Holi is a festival almost made for Bollywood. Here are five celluloid moments that shimmer and glitter among and along the tradition of celebrating Holi onscreen:

1. Any Holi discussion is incomplete without the song ‘Rang Barse’ from Silsila. Just before Amit (Amitabh Bachchan) starts singing, Chandni (Rekha) tells Amit’s wife Shobha (Jaya Bachchan) that she didn’t marry the man she fell in love with. In another corner, Amit makes the same confession to Chandni’s husband Dr Anand (Sanjeev Kumar). And the song follows.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CceBDKIqHE4?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=390]

2. In a pivotal scene in ‘Damini’ (1993), Meenakshi Seshadri is witness to the rape of her maid by her brother-in-law and his friends on Holi. The maid dies in hospital, the rape is covered up by the family and Meenakshi Seshadri is the lone crusader for justice till she meets lawyer Sunny Deol.

Alas! Not every Holi is all about innocent songs and dances.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlndeAWgJ4Y?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=390]

3. In the movie ‘Sholay’ (1975), Holi provides an opportunity for Veeru to romance Basanti and gives Gabbar Singh’s band of villains to attack Ramgarh, only to be warded off by Jai and Veeru. The whole sequence finally reveals that Thakur Baldev Singh has no arms.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q2BWHkybJY?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=390]

4. You might have loved ‘Balam Pichkari’ from the 2013 release ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ but the scene to watch out for is the one that follows, where Naina (Deepika Padukone) is about to confess to Bunny (Ranbir Kapoor) that she loves him but doesn’t for she realizes how diametrically opposite their worlds are.

5. In 1993’s ‘Darr’, Shah Rukh Khan played an obsessive stalker and infiltrated Juhi Chawla’s Holi party, sneaking into her house to tell his “K-K-K-Kiran” how much he loves her. Sunny Deol follows him, when he escapes, but to no avail.