5 QUESTIONS
BILLBOARD
BOX OFFICE
MAKING WAVES
MEMORIES
MOVIES CHAT
QUOTE MARTIAL
REVIEWS
ROUGH CUTS
SHORT TAKES
SOUTHERN SPICE
THE LIST
WISH THE STARS
ARCHIVES

Make way for another Mela

Dharmesh Darshan's Mela (along with Bulandi) is the first release of 2000. Like his earlier films (Lootere, Raja Hindustani), Mela too, is preceded by a lot of hype. And a few controversies.

For instance, did you know that...

During the making of Raja Hindustani, Darshan had reportedly approached Karisma to play the lead in Mela. At the same time, he had discussed the role with Twinkle Khanna. Apparently, Karisma couldn't give him dates, so Twinkle got the film. Darshan, however, persisted with his Raja Hindustani hero, Aamir Khan.

The director was so busy with Mela that he even contemplated dropping out of the Sunil Shetty-Shilpa Shetty-Akshay Kumar-starrer, Dhadkan. He was later convinced by Venus, which is producing the film, to change his mind. Shilpa, in particular, heaved a sigh of relief since she had undergone a nose job, especially for her glamorous role in in this film.

Darshan is known for giving his heroines a sexy image. He has done so -- successfully -- in the past with Juhi Chawla in Lootere and with Karisma Kapoor in Raja Hindustani. If the Mela promos are anything to go, he has done the same with Twinkle.

No Darshan film is complete without a kissing scene. There was one between Juhi and Sunny in Lootere and then again, between Aamir and Karisma in Raja Hindustani. Ditto with Aamir and Twinkle in this one.

Mela is rumoured to be inspired by Caravan, the '60s entertainer by Nasir Hussain. Incidentally, Raja Hindustani also had shades of the Mithun Chakraborthy-Padmini Kolhapure hit, Pyar Jhukta Nahin.

After a non-starter like Madhosh, Aamir Khan’s younger brother, Faisal, tries his luck with a tough image in Mela. His character in the film is supposed to have negative shades.

The film ran into trouble with the Censor Board because of the exposing scenes done by Twinkle. There was further controversy when Twinkle's voice was dubbed by someone else.

The picturisation of Dhadkan mein tum brings back memories of Hai Rama in Rangeela., what with Aamir running on a horse in a desert, chasing a skimpily-clad Twinkle, a la Jackie and Urmila in the Ramgopal Varma film.

After the superhit Aati kya Khandala in Ghulam, Aamir Khan sings again in Mela. The song is called, Dekho 2000 zamana aa gaya.

This is the third Mela in Bollywood history. The first one, released in 1948, was directed by S U Sunny and starred Dilip Kumar and Nargis. The second one, directed by Prakash Mehra with Sanjay Khan and Mumtaz in the lead, released in 1971. Both these films had good music.

Compiled by Sukanya Verma

RELATED FEATURES
The Dharmesh Darshan interview
The music review