Ek Duje Ke Liye – A film that shook my conditioned mind!
This film was released in 1981. I was 11 years old. Till that time, I was used to watching films of Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Jeeendra, Rishi Kapoor etc. They were the heros who used to used to definitely save the heroine at the nick of time – like when the heroine was about to be raped or devoured by the villain – lo behold – the hero used to jump in from nowhere and saved the heroine! So my immature brain had developed this idea that
‘Men who save their women are called Heros…rest are just fillers or villains.’
A usual KV habit of telling film stories during tiffin-break
KV is Kendriya Viyalaya (Central School). So I remember telling my friends – this film has no hero!
They: How is that possible.
Me: Yup – you heard it right dudes – no hero! Both the actor and the actress die at the end…and the heroine died after being raped by the villain…like the hero could not save her!!
Deep sigh!
So you see, how we develop mental blocks! I was totally ignorant about the fact that it is quite possible that the man will not be able to save his woman…..men can be weak..very weak and failures too!
Another shock that Kamal Hassan gave me….
His flexible dance postures and nuances!! I found it very feminine! Like heros don’t dance…and even if they do- it will not have the lachak-matak (feminine nuances) that Kamal showed! another myth broken….men can dance..better than women!