By Enkayaar, Glamsham Editorial
One may call it fortuitousness or what, wherein while the world of awards of Hindi cinema for the year 2012 is paying glowing tributes to the contribution of Yash Chopra to the world of cinema, Bharat Dabholkar has come out with the new play "Blame it on Yash Raj", which is a sort of indictment of the Yash Chopra kind of movie making that celebrated marriage as an event and as a demonstrative effect, as per the play, are indirectly responsible for increasing the costs of marriage. Bharat Dabholkar's play is also in sync with the current mood of the nation, the agenda being set up from the political dispersion to curb ostentatious expenditure; the play has caught the imagination of the public.Indeed, if one were to look from a detached perspective, and analyze the sociological contours of Yash Chopra films, one of the additions that have come to be an integral part of the world of Hindi cinema have been "Sangeet", which rarely formed the part and parcel of the marriage construct. Now be it north or south, east of western India, Sangeet is an integral part of the marriage ceremony.
While Bharat Dabholkar has not in any way directly pointed fingers at the Yash Chopra style of film making as being the catalyst for having a debilitating effect on the marriage ceremonies, the pointers are subtle for the intelligent audience to pick up the hints.
But the moot point whether Yash Chopra is responsible directly or indirectly for the increasing costs of marriages in our country? First film probably that celebrated marriage as an event was Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit starrer, HUM AAPKE HAIN KAUN, which revolved around marriage. Indeed, CHANDNI could be said to have changed the paradigms of marriage with elaborate rituals being shown in vivid detail.
But for that matter marriages as an event has been celebrated by the world of Hindi cinema right from the era of black and white films. It is just that the films that Yash Chopra made to coincide with the economic liberalization and availability of disposable cash, which got catalyzed by the dreams of romance that Yash Chopra weaved on the silver screen. After all, marriage still in India is an event that for most of the Indians happens once in a lifetime, so one tries to leave no stone unturned to make it an event of a lifetime, and the role models to do so have been Yash Chopra films. After all, it was his banner that made a film like BAND BAAJA BAARAAT, which gave recognition to the marriage event management industry.
So, Bharat Dabholkar's play could have contextuality but Yash Chopra alone cannot be blamed for it, it is a by-product of economic prosperity of the country, manifest in making marriages a gala event.
