Bollywood Ki Jai Ho
‘Highway Queen’ was a roaring success. Madhuleela’s classic beauty was perfectly complemented by the gorgeous palace and its gardens where the movie was shot. Not one but two stars were born that day. From royalty to nobility to celebrity, all wanted to be in their presence. Until tragedy struck…
***
“My story actually starts not from my heydays, but when I was down and neglected and all but forgotten. Oh! But I have to tell you, during my heydays I was the cynosure of every eye. As they say, Raja ho yaa runk all wanted to be seen with me. Though of course runk could not afford me. But sadly younger, and glossier versions of me stole the limelight. Does that mean we abandon classic beauty?
“Anyway, as I was saying, there I was pitying myself and blubbering jab dil hi toot gaya hum jee ke kya karenge. Those were the days when I would have gladly accepted adulation from even a runk. Perhaps, for a moment the universe pitied me and sent Shahrukh Khan my way. I can see you roll your eyes. But bear with me. One day finally a runk came to me. But instead of admiring me, he kept looking at his phone all the time. Itni touhean! Suddenly, he stood up and spread his arms wide, and declared, ‘Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho to puri kayanat usey tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai.’
“That got me thinking, he is absolutely right. All I have to do is love myself and believe in myself. So that’s what I did. Loved myself hard and err…prayed hard too and envisioned my future. Then dear readers, it started happening. Slowly people came. And one day HE sauntered into my life.
“He looked at me with smoldering eyes, gently ran his hands over me, and whispered, ‘Pehli nazar mein kaisa jadoo kar diya…’
“Oh! I tell you those words were magical. I knew it then, main apni favorite hoon, actually works. Sometimes you have to fall in love with yourself before others can fall in love with you.
“And, like any good story, our villains too materialized soon. After all, my hero was young and I was not. But he glared at them and growled, ‘Don’t angry me,’ while he reassured me, ‘Tension lene ka nahi, dene ka.’
“Thus, slowly started the transformation. Layer by layer a new me emerged. He would wink at me and hum under his breath, ‘Baar-baar dekho hazaar bar dekho...’ And I could see people around me beginning to agree with him.
“That fateful day, with band, baaja, baaraat he presented me to the world.”
***
It was the perfect reunion after nearly half a century. After the tragic death of Madhuleela, the palace too had lost its glory. But today, the diamond jubilee of the movie was held at a glittering ceremony at the beautifully restored and rechristened HIGHWAY QUEEN Heritage Hotel.
***
GLOSSARY
~Raja aur runk – a movie starring Sanjeev Kumar
jab dil hi toot gaya hum jee ke kya karenge – when your heart is broken what’s the point in living; a song from the movie Shahjehan
~Itni touhean – such insult; touhean was a movie starring Dimple Kapadia and Raj Babbar
~Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho to puri kayanat usey tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai – If you really want something the whole universe will conspire to give it to you; famous dialogue by Shahrukh Khan from the movie Om Shanti Om
~Pehli nazar mein kaisa jadoo kar diya – what spell have you cast on first glance (lose translation but you get the drift); a song from the movie Race
main apni favourite hoon – famous dialogue by Kareena Kapoor from the movie Jab We Met
~Don’t angry me – famous dialogue by Akshay Kumar from the movie Rowdy Rathore
~Tension lene ka nahi, dene ka – famous dialogue by Sunjay Dutt, from the movie Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
~Baar-baar dekho hazaar bar dekho – song from the movie China Town
band, baaja, baaraat – movie starring Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh
~HIGHWAY – a movie starring Alia Bhatt
~QUEEN – a movie starring Kangana Ranaut
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