One wonders why Royal Enfield manufacturers of Bullet motorcycles have still not roped in Katrina Kaif as their brand ambassador to reposition the eponymous bike among the youth, and to counter the competition that it is facing against the invasion of Chinese and Japanese bikes in the market. Here one is talking about the inspired journey that Katrina Kaif had performed in ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA to plant a kiss on the lips of Hrithik Roshan and to affirm her commitment towards a relationship.
When was it on the screen of Hindi cinema that such a thing had happened, i.e. a female star has been shown as following her new love interest on a road to affirm her commitment to a relationship as it was done in ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA. Well, it was there in the black and white era of Hindi cinema before independence when Himanshu Rai used to make films. But after independence as the cinema evolved expression of love became metaphorical, symbolic and most of the times melancholic, i.e. suffering in silence but not expressing it. ZNMD has indeed therefore emerging as a tipping point in Hindi cinema as it has been able to underline an integral fact of life of these days.
Kisses have been exchanged by ladies on the screen in scores of films, but it is in all probability for the first time that a lady has been shown to travel such a long distance to do it, even Nike could think about reviving its iconic slogan "Just do it", by using the image from ZNMD. Indeed, there are scores of such moments in ZNMD that could herald, revive or re-launch moribund products.
Coming to the issue of undertaking a journey to plant a kiss, well the nearest reference point one can find would be in 3 IDIOTS, where Kareena Kapoor straddles a scooter, an eco-scooter at that, to scare the wits out of Aamir Khan for having literally forgotten her in the movie. Otherwise, finding any such reference point would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. Indeed, in this search one can bring in the reference point of NASEEB, where Hema Malini riding on a motorbike demonstrates her love for Big B, but NASEEB made as it was during the times when expression of love was demonstrated through conjoining flowers, her affection was shown on the screen by an affectionate pat of cheeks of Amitabh Bachchan.
Well, now that Zoya Akhtar has taken a lead in bringing into relief the feelings of a female as well, expression of love, one only hopes that it would be taken to new heights in other movies to come. It would be interesting to watch how this issue pans out.
