Bombay (1995), a special film.
Shekhar Narayanan Pillai (Arvind Swamy), a Hindu student studying Journalism in Bombay, travels to native Tamil Nadu to meet his family. There he falls in love at first sight with Shaila Banu (Manisha Koirala), a school-going Muslim girl who initially resist interaction with him and distance herself but gradually develop feelings, finally reciprocates his love, and get into relationship.
Since they belong to two theologically different religions, both set of parents refuse to accept them. Heartbroken Shekhar returns to Bombay but ensures he remains in touch with Shaila through writing letters with a one-way ticket to Bombay delivered through her friend. Upon learning about secret relationship, Shaila Banu’s father admonishes her and threatens to get her married off. Left with absolutely no choice, she runs away to Bombay to get married to Shekhar and starts a new life afresh in an unknown metropolitan city.
A year later, Shaila Banu conceives, she and Shekhar become parents to twin sons named Kabir Narayanan and Kamal Basheer. Kids are raised with both religions and the family live a secure life until Demolition of Babri Masjid happens and their lives, as well as people of Bombay, become victims of communal riots where both sides of the spectrum witnessed faultline, deaths, vandalization of the city.
Mani Ratnam’s Bombay (Originally a Tamil film but dubbed in Malayalam, Hindi, and Telugu language. I watched the Hindi dubbed) was a bold film made in 1995. More than narrating 6th December event, the film depicted romance between a Hindu man and a Muslim woman, causing a huge controversy within the Muslim community. I recently discovered that two-three months post the theatrical release, a mob of Islamist group name Al-Umah threw two handmade bombs on Ratnam’s two-story home in Madras while he was sipping his coffee. His condition was so grievous, he had to be hospitalized, his legs suffered shrapnel injuries.
I was shocked when I learned about this attack, but then it should not be surprising. If you ask me, I found absolutely nothing offensive about Bombay. Mani Ratnam sensitively portrayed inter-faith relationship and marriage with utmost honesty. He knows neither of the community are receptive to inter-faith marriages, and he daringly showed how one community’s apprehension is always more aggressive than the other. There is one sequence that had my heart, it is the one where Shekhar tries to pacify with Shaila Banu, after an argument over his father’s awful suggestion, and asks, should he convert to Islam? to which she immediately answers in negative. It might not come across a big thing, but certainly a ground-breaking scene for me because it showed Shaila loved him unconditionally enough and accepted him the way he is, just like Shekhar did.
What made Bombay such a special film, besides its compelling storyline and moving performances from the cast esp. Arvind Swami and Manisha Koirala (who looked as lovely as a daisy) is A.R.Rahman’s soul-stirring music. Whether it is ‘Tu Hi Re’, ‘Kuch Bhi Na Socho’, ‘Humma’, ‘Kuchi Kuchi Rakama’, or Kehna Hi Kya’, every song has been beautifully composed, ‘Tu Hi Re’ and ‘Kehna Hi Kya’ are my personal favorites; the latter — sung by K.S.Chithra — has aged well to such an extent that even in 2022, we can’t help but listen to the song on a loop. I’m keeping my fingers crossed hoping that it never gets destroyed by the remix gang.
Bombay did present the possibility of a union between a non-Muslim man and a Muslim woman, however sadly in most cases we never get to see such love stories unfold in real because the consequences of such relationships often lead to brutal end of the man and most cases honor killing of the woman by her family. There are exceptions, I personally know few, but they are not a norm. Bollywood — barring ‘Gadar — Ek Prem Kathaa’ (2001) and “Ishaqzaade’ (2012) never dared to write a love story between Hindu man and Muslim woman, while there are films that had Muslim man and Hindu woman shown as couples because there is no risk to life involved, and we all know why.
Mani Ratnam might have resolved to never make films that could rub any one or any community the wrong way, apparently aligned with a political ideology different than mine and chose a safe path but Bombay will always remain one of his best films to be remembered for a longer time. I consider the film to be way ahead of its time, and perhaps shall always be.
