The Enduring Cinematic Legacy of Holi in Indian Cinema

Mumbai. Whether it is Nepali cinema or Bollywood, the festival is considered incomplete until the colors of Holi splash across the screen. This connection between cinema and Holi is nearly 94 years old.

This journey, which first began in Bollywood in 1932 with the song 'Hori Mujhe Khelne Ko Tesu Manga De' in the film Gulru, remains equally fragrant to this day. Initially, as it was the black and white era, the colors of Holi could not be seen on screen, but in 1952, Mehboob Khan's film Aan gave the audience the taste of a colorful Holi for the first time.

The style of celebrating Holi and its stories in Bollywood are very interesting. The Holi party of Raj Kapoor, known as a showman, was particularly unique and grand. He used to give special invitations to transgender individuals to his parties.

What is interesting is that Raj Kapoor would play songs from his upcoming films for them. If they did not like a particular song, Raj Kapoor would remove that song from the film altogether. He considered their advice and preference as the standard for success.

Similarly, Amitabh Bachchan's Holi party was also much talked about. His unique style included throwing guests into a pool filled with colors, serving them bhang, and engaging in singing and dancing.

Holi songs have made a huge contribution to Amitabh's career. His two evergreen songs, 'Rang Barse' and 'Hori Khele Raghuveera', were written by his father and famous poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Amitabh had been listening to these songs from his father's mouth since childhood, even before they appeared on screen.

The birth of the song 'Rang Barse' from the famous 1981 film Silsila was also a coincidence. This song was inspired by Meera's devotional song 'Rang Barse O Meera'.

Director Yash Chopra heard this devotional song when Amitabh was humming it at Raj Kapoor's Holi party. He liked the bhajan so much that he immediately decided to include it in his film.

Exactly the same story applies to 'Hori Khele Raghuveera' from the film Baghban. When composer Adesh Shrivastava asked for suggestions for a Holi song, Amitabh narrated a folk song his father used to hum, which was recorded overnight and still resonates in every Holi celebration today.