“Tu kisi rail si guzarti hai, main kisi pul sa thartharata hu.”
Lyricist Dushyant Kumar had churned out a whole song, comparing trains to human emotions in the 2015 film ‘Masaan’. Indian Cinema’s obsession with trains dates back right to the time when Ray made ‘Pather Panchali’. In ‘Pather Panchali’, the trains are manifestations of the small dreams of the siblings, Apu and Durga. The dreams that might appear so little to us, in magnitude, but the ones that hold a much larger magnitude for the protagonists.
The trains are also the only means that connect the rural to urban, where Apu dreams of going one day. In Ghatak’s,’ Subarnarekha’ the train acts as a symbolization of trauma and shock when Abhiram finds his mother and is faced with the reality of himself belonging to a lower caste and incapable of marrying Subarna. In the 1987 film ‘Ijaazat’, directed by Gulzar, Mahendra and Sudha meet after five long years at a railway station, since their divorce, and only the departing train brings an end to this evanescent meeting. In 1983, Balu Mahendra directorial,’ Sadma’ had its heart-wrenching climax set in a train station with Nehlata leaving the station on a train unable to identify Somu, leaving him insane at the railway station.
In ‘Swades’ that released in 2005, the train became means of giving an outsider, a view of the rural hinterland. In the 1995 blockbuster ‘Dilwale Dulhanina Le Jayenge’, again the famous climax is set in a train station where Simran’s father finally lets go of her hand in a railway station letting her reunite with Raj on a running train. In 2013, Shah Rukh Khan brought us ‘Chennai Express’ where two strangers from different cultural backgrounds meet and embark on a journey.
In 2007 ‘Jab We Met’, Geet and Aditya meet on a train that leads to forming a bond between them, eventually blossoming into love. In 2013, in Ritesh Batra’sLunchbox’ the train plays an important role in striking conversations about life, and of course how could we forget about how sometimes, the wrong train could take you to the right station! In a 2014 short film under the Royal Stag Barrel Select, ‘Mehrooni’ a stranger learns the heartbreaking story of a couple who traveled by the same train every day.
In 2013, ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’, the train journey becomes important as a symbolization of new beginnings for each character. In ‘Masaan’ the protagonist Devi finds herself a job at the railway station after events take a horrible turn for her, while Deepak finds a job at the railway as an escape from the pain of lost love. The train becomes an important element in the whole of ‘Masaan’s narrative.
Text by: Sreyoshi Sil, IBTN9
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