Flashback

DAY 26/30/26/JUNE/2020 

Flashbacks have been a fantastic story telling technique and has been extensively used in worldwide cinema. It reduces so much effort of explaining everything that happened in the past through words. The flashback technique comes in handy and the story becomes much more lively. 

Thinking of flashbacks in Bollywood,the first one that comes to my mind is from the epic movie 'Sholay'. In about first five minutes of the movie, Thakursahab takes us into a flashback to narrate his experience with Jay and Veeru. He had  made the arrest and was taking them to the police station, through a goods carrier. The train was attacked by the dacoits and Jay and Veeru help Thakursahab to bravely fight against the dacoits. Now this narration in words seem so dry. It doesn't express the intensity of what actually happened at the site.

If we recall the flashback scene, it has done wonders to the film. In the first five minutes there is some intense action happening which immediately grabs the audience attention. There have been many dacoit looting scenes in the past but in Sholay the cinematography for this particular scene leaves you spellbound. The horses galloping along with the train and the dacoits attempting to board the train. Jay, Veeru and Thaurksahab busy with counter attacks and killing the dacoits or diverting them. The train speedily barges through the pile of woodstock kept as an obstacle on the rails. The use of slow motion in these scenes made it a visual delight. Probably the Indian audiences were experiencing this kind of a western treatment in the movie for the first time. The slow motion adding to the beauty. And all this happening at a rapid pace. It was unbelievable. 

The second one that comes to mind and which is much superior than the earlier one is from the same movie.

Its the famous holi scene where the whole village is busy celebrating holi festival and Gabbar strikes seeking the right opportunity. There at a point Gabbar has Jay at his feet and calling out for Veeru. Veeru is out of ammunition but just them spots a rifle lying at a close distance from Thakursahab. Veeru signals Thakursaab to pass the rifle. Thakursaab only looks at him and ignores. Ultimately, Jay and Veeru manage to turn the tables and Gabbar runs away. After that there is a confrontation between Veeru and Thakursaab. Veeru is clearly very upset with Thakursaab. Veeru questions why didn't he pass the rifle to him. To which Thakursaab narrates the flashback which reveals the nature of enmity between Gabbar and Thakursaab. It also explains why Thakursaab is so vengeful and desperate for having Gabbar, 'zinda aur sirf zinda'. Of course the flashback unfolds very dramatically. The scene where Gabbar kills Thakursaab's entire family  simply sends chills down the spine. The audience emotion and Thaurssab's emotion matches absolutely and hence Sholay became such a big hit. The peak of the flashback is when the story comes back to present. That moment the wind blows harshly and takes off Thakursaab's cover and exposes him to the world. A man with no hands. This is the point where we disconnect from the past and come back to the present. What a shock. What an emotional drama. What a brilliant scene.

The third and the last one is from another Bollywood classic, 'Aandhi'. The scene where Sanjeev Kumar and Suchetra Sen, his wife, who has gone away from him meet after many years and are having tea in the verandha. They have had some strained relationship in the past as husband wife and agreed to part ways. The tea is served and Sanjeev Kumar as he talks slips into the past. He remembers a morning where Suchitra Sen enters the bedroom with the tea tray. Sanjeev Kumar is still sleeping. She tries waking him up for having the bed tea. He makes some excuses to sleep just a lit bit longer. On this she takes one of his fingers and dips it in hot cup of tea. His finger is burnt and in reflex he springs out of the bed.

The beauty is that he lives that memory so intensely, that we come back to the present with a shock he tries to hold the cup from falling down just as he did then. That's awesome Gulzarsahab with his director's hat. 

Thus has been the power of flashbacks in movies. The true magic happens in the transition. On what note do we go the past and on what note should we come back to the present. That's the real skill. One thing if you have noticed is that all the three flashbacks I talked about had Sanjeev Kumar in common. 

Since I went into a flashback while writing this article, its now a must for me to watch those movies again for the …...time.Forget it! I have stopped counting!!

© - Rahul Shinde 26/JUN/2020