WHEN BOLLYWOOD ROMANCES THE RAINS

The downpour in Dubai inspired us to take a look at how rainfall can turn coyness into chemistry in Hindi films

- By Manjusha Radhakrishnan

Long before Bollywood discovered the humble lip-lock, we had thunder, lightning, and bodacious leading ladies in very transparent chiffon saris doing all the talking.

Rain wasn’t climate; it was chemistry for Bollywood filmmakers. Rain-soaked saris gave Hindi cinema its most stylish metaphor for seduction.

What Hollywood sealed with a kiss, we drenched in desire and monsoon.

Take Shree 420’s Pyaar Hua Iqraar Hua. Raj Kapoor and Nargis didn’t need steamy kisses; they had one umbrella and a universe of chemistry.

As the rain poured down, innocence met yearning, and that wet sari became cinema’s most elegant act of seduction.