Eternal Love V/s Conveniently Love
It is said that the only remedy to love is to love more. The feeling of love is perhaps inexpressible. But you do get a glimpse of it in the eyes of Shahrukh Khan throughout ‘Mohabbatein’. The movie is indeed a moving experience especially for people who believe their hearts can beat strong enough to feel wounded. While watching the movie, however, I couldn’t help comparing it with another movie of recent times ‘Dhadkan’.
Briefly put for readers, who haven’t seen the two movies, they deal with unresolved love due to the intervention of the girls’ father resulting in a permanent separation. In both the movies, the daughter sacrifices her love at the feet of her father’s wish. However, ‘Dhadkan’ recommends the’move on’ approach, wherein she marries someone else and ultimately falls in love with him too. ‘Mohabbatein” propagates that true love is not alterable. It is eternal devotion and commitment to the person loved, even when it is certain that love will never be reciprocated.
Does the comparison raise more questions than it can answer? Yes, it could be so, since we conveniently refuse to answer some questions of our life. I am sure that there are many more in this world, who would agree with the practical “Dhadkan” approach to life and love. In fact, on raising a debate, I found many of my young friends disapproving Shahrukh’s sacrifice and character sketch. “This happens only in movies. You can’t waste a lifetime over one person. You must learn to move on.” They felt ‘sulking’ over a lost love was a mistake bordering on stupidity.
Personally I disagree. Maybe, true love is not an experience in the destiny of many. Love is not love, if it alters. Let the whole world change and become more practical. No. I didn’t expect the ‘Dhadkan’ heroine to disobey her father’s wishes. But I do have a question for her. If you are noble enough to realize that your parents wish is more important than your own love, you will sacrifice your love for them, then the question is, do you really have a right to fall in love in the first place? One may argue that sometimes you don’t realize that you have fallen in love. I still wish to know, what stops you then from consulting your parents before committing to that relationship and going right ahead till it’s too late for you to turn back, without shattering the other person’s world as well? I wonder how you expect your beloved to conveniently dispose off his emotions as you have your own! Where does he go while you coolly take shelter in the cave of sacrifice for the parents? At least in ‘Mohabbatein’, she realizes her mistake and decides to pay the price by giving up her life for her love. She refuses to make a choice between her love and her duty towards her parents.
And as far as ‘sulking’ is concerned, I feel that there is no room for sulking in true love. Cry, you may, but sulk, never. Again, ‘Mohabbatein’ scales heights when Shahrukh doesn’t sulk even once for his lost love in the whole movie, although his eyes are moist throughout. On the other hand, the hurt lover of ‘Dhadkan’ sulks and behaves discreetly.
Maybe, ‘Dhadkan’ is a big solace for the “move on” approach and ‘Mohabbatein’ comes down very harshly o such people who choose practicality over emotions, who choose to bury their guilt in the grave of their sacrifice. For them, remaining in love with a dead beloved is perhaps not as romantic as being married to a living ‘compromise’ chosen by their parents. ‘Mohabbatein’ teaches parents to refrain from controlling their children’s lives, since ultimately there may not be a life to improve or destroy. Emotional suicide is many times more dangerous than ending one’s physical life.
The one scene that stands out in ‘Mohabbatien’ , is the one towards the end when Shahrukh reminds his loved one’s father of the irony of boasting of his ‘success’, while garlanding the portrait of his dead daughter.
Lastly, to my ‘mature’ friends, who responded to Shahrukh’s eternal love ‘practically’ by saying, “this happens only in movies”, I want to say only one thing, that after seeing ‘Dhadkan’, I felt “UNFORTUNATELY, THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN ONLY IN MOVIES.”
Briefly put for readers, who haven’t seen the two movies, they deal with unresolved love due to the intervention of the girls’ father resulting in a permanent separation. In both the movies, the daughter sacrifices her love at the feet of her father’s wish. However, ‘Dhadkan’ recommends the’move on’ approach, wherein she marries someone else and ultimately falls in love with him too. ‘Mohabbatein” propagates that true love is not alterable. It is eternal devotion and commitment to the person loved, even when it is certain that love will never be reciprocated.
Does the comparison raise more questions than it can answer? Yes, it could be so, since we conveniently refuse to answer some questions of our life. I am sure that there are many more in this world, who would agree with the practical “Dhadkan” approach to life and love. In fact, on raising a debate, I found many of my young friends disapproving Shahrukh’s sacrifice and character sketch. “This happens only in movies. You can’t waste a lifetime over one person. You must learn to move on.” They felt ‘sulking’ over a lost love was a mistake bordering on stupidity.
Personally I disagree. Maybe, true love is not an experience in the destiny of many. Love is not love, if it alters. Let the whole world change and become more practical. No. I didn’t expect the ‘Dhadkan’ heroine to disobey her father’s wishes. But I do have a question for her. If you are noble enough to realize that your parents wish is more important than your own love, you will sacrifice your love for them, then the question is, do you really have a right to fall in love in the first place? One may argue that sometimes you don’t realize that you have fallen in love. I still wish to know, what stops you then from consulting your parents before committing to that relationship and going right ahead till it’s too late for you to turn back, without shattering the other person’s world as well? I wonder how you expect your beloved to conveniently dispose off his emotions as you have your own! Where does he go while you coolly take shelter in the cave of sacrifice for the parents? At least in ‘Mohabbatein’, she realizes her mistake and decides to pay the price by giving up her life for her love. She refuses to make a choice between her love and her duty towards her parents.
And as far as ‘sulking’ is concerned, I feel that there is no room for sulking in true love. Cry, you may, but sulk, never. Again, ‘Mohabbatein’ scales heights when Shahrukh doesn’t sulk even once for his lost love in the whole movie, although his eyes are moist throughout. On the other hand, the hurt lover of ‘Dhadkan’ sulks and behaves discreetly.
Maybe, ‘Dhadkan’ is a big solace for the “move on” approach and ‘Mohabbatein’ comes down very harshly o such people who choose practicality over emotions, who choose to bury their guilt in the grave of their sacrifice. For them, remaining in love with a dead beloved is perhaps not as romantic as being married to a living ‘compromise’ chosen by their parents. ‘Mohabbatein’ teaches parents to refrain from controlling their children’s lives, since ultimately there may not be a life to improve or destroy. Emotional suicide is many times more dangerous than ending one’s physical life.
The one scene that stands out in ‘Mohabbatien’ , is the one towards the end when Shahrukh reminds his loved one’s father of the irony of boasting of his ‘success’, while garlanding the portrait of his dead daughter.
Lastly, to my ‘mature’ friends, who responded to Shahrukh’s eternal love ‘practically’ by saying, “this happens only in movies”, I want to say only one thing, that after seeing ‘Dhadkan’, I felt “UNFORTUNATELY, THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN ONLY IN MOVIES.”
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