It's Rang Panchami, the festival of colours – Holi, and people from all over are celebrating it with full fervour. The festival of Holi has been one of the most important scenes in movies which turned pivotal to the flow of the story.
Over the years, there have been numerous sequences written around Holi that further the tale. Here are a few examples of such situations in films ranging from ‘Darr’ to ‘Damini’ to ‘Sholay’.
It's Rang Panchami, the festival of colours – Holi, and people from all over are celebrating it with full fervour. The festival of Holi has been one of the most important scenes in movies which turned pivotal to the flow of the story.
Going down memory lane, here are some of the most memorable sequences from Bollywood flicks that were important to the storyline of the film.
When her husband's (Rishi Kapoor) brother and his pals rape the housemaid on Holi, Damini (Meenakshi Seshadri) becomes a vital witness. The film’s plot centres around Damini's quest for justice for the housemaid.
'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani's Holi song, 'Balam Pichkaari,' remains one of the most popular Bollywood songs during the holiday. In the song, Naina (Deepika Padukone) is shown breaking free and joyfully dancing to this song. She was previously considered a geek and nerd. In this scene, she is finally breaking off her shackles and shows her true colours.
In one moment from the film, everyone is celebrating Holi. Ram (Ranveer Singh) and Leela (Deepika Padukone) meet for the first time in this scene, which is set to the song 'Lahu Muh Lag Gaya.' The two meet for the first time and fall in love, and the rest of the movie is centred around how their love story becomes the root cause of two families fighting and ultimately coming together.
Dhanush made his Bollywood debut with Aanand L. Rai's 'Raanjhanaa'. In the film, Sonam Kapoor paints Dhanush with Holi colours during one of the songs. That moment was the first instance when Dhanush feels that probably Sonam Kapoor also is in love with her, even though he was proved wrong later on. Dhanush's portrayal of a one-sided lover was breathtaking at the time.
Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone had a sequence in the film that showcased their relationship well. They also looked fantastic. After an unexpected turn of events, Khilji (Ranveer Singh) is persuaded to seek peace with the Rajputs in a scene from 'Padmaavat.' As a diplomatic gesture, Khilji paints his face with brilliant saffron to join the Rajputs in celebrating Holi.
A notable scene from Mohabbatein in which Shah Rukh Khan's character Raj successfully persuades Gurukul's strict principal, Narayan Shankar (Amitabh Bachchan), with a gulaal teeka. Amitabh allows the students to enjoy Holi while lowering his chin in reverence for the teeka. Both characters set aside their disagreements and joined together to represent the triumph of love. Raj Aryan (Shah Rukh Khan), a Gurukul instructor, persuades Principal Narayan Shankar (Amitabh Bachchan) to allow the pupils to play Holi. Shankar abandons his age-old philosophy of not participating in Holi and allows Raj to apply tika to his forehead — a symbol that he is breaking the ice with Raj.
Gabbar Singh provided the memorable 'Holi kab hai?' exchange in Sholay. Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) raids Ramgarh immediately after the song ‘Holi Ke Din Dil Mil Jaate Hai’ in order to capture Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan).
In Jolly LLB 2, Sayani Gupta discovers she has been duped by Akshay Kumar after hearing the Holi song Go Pagal. It was a pivotal scene in the film.
Just before the song Rang Barse, Chandni (Rekha) confides in his previous lover Amit's (Amitabh Bachchan) wife Shobha (Jaya Bachchan) about why she did not marry the guy she fell in love with. Meanwhile, Amit confesses the same thing to Chandni's spouse, Dr. Anand (Sanjeev Kumar).
Raja (Shah Rukh Khan) expresses his love for the widowed Kajal during Holi (Divya Bharti). The sequence concludes with him smearing gulaal over her white sari, symbolising his desire to marry her.
The 14-year feud between Veer Singh (Dilip Kumar) and Rajeshwar Singh (Raaj Kumar) is finally resolved in this pivotal Holi scenario. When Veer's buddy attempts to throw colour at him, he insists that only one person can persuade him to play Holi. Rajeshwar reacts by splattering colour over him. And with that, the friends-turned-rivals re-establish their bond.
Ishwarchandra Thakur (Amitabh Bachchan) discovers his daughter-in-law Pooja (Priyanka Chopra) is pregnant during the song ‘Let's Play Holi’. Thakur realises that his son Aditya (Akshay Kumar) is too irresponsible to support his family. That's when Thakur decides to make Aditya aware of his obligations and throws him out of the house, so that he learns to stand up on his feet and make a living for himself.
In the film, Akshay Kumar visits Bhumi Pednekar's hometown to celebrate Holi. He requests that she smack him in accordance with the customs, and she agrees. This form of Holi celebration is called Lath Maar Holi, which is quite popular in rural parts of India, where the girls can smack the men. The custom is meant for addressing of the grievances of women and subsequently of apologising by the men.
Shah Rukh Khan attends Sunny Deol and Juhi Chawla's Holi festivities at Darr. Being hidden in the colours of Holi, SRK manages to put colour and come close to Juhi Chawla, whom he has been stalking since long. On knowing this Sunny Deol chases behind SRK to catch him, but to vain. Also, as his face was covered in colours of Holi, no one could recognise as to who he was.