Lekin

Title: Lekin
Year: 1990
Cast: Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Hema Malini

In between the real and the unreal lies the ethereal, and there are few Bollywood movies that talk about that in-between place without making a horror movie- Lekin (trans: "But") is a rare gem.

Vinod is Samir, a government inspector sent to Rajasthan to evaluate a princely estate. As he embarks upon his journey, he meets a mysterious woman (Dimple) in the train, whom he later finds is called Rewa. He is intrigued by her and puzzled by the enigma that she is, but she disappears before dawn.

Have you ever seen such beautiful opening credits?



Samir begins his work in Rajasthan, and begins to meet Rewa more and more often, though he has no idea who she really is.



At the same time, he begins to hallucinate visions of bygone eras- of a cruel king, a group of folk singers, of desert storms- is he losing his mind? or is he really time travelling? or is someone making him aware of crimes of the past, and for what purpose? His friend Shafi (Amjad Khan! who totally rocks it!) and his wife Sharda (Beena) are afraid for his sanity. With Dimple looking so amazing, can you blame the poor man?



The movie proceeds to its conclusion with so many foreshadowings and half-hints, that like Samir, the viewer is also completely befuddled- who the heck is Rewa and why is she so mysterious?? Will Samir ever know the truth- and whose beautiful voice calls him to the desert- who has been lost in the desert's storms for such a long time, and has not yet reached home?



Notes:
1- Vinod was back from the break he had taken in the mid80s, and was looking suitably gorgeous. The desert scenery complemented him beautifully.
2- Dimple rocks Rajasthani outfits, and she knows it (dont believe me? Check out Rudaali (1993))- she acts with her eyes here- and they speak volumes- often during the movie, I honestly didn't need her to speak at all- her expressions convey everything, which is what the movie needed.
3- The real star: the songs, the music, the lyrics, the singers- I've worn out 3 (yes, 3!) copies of the soundtrack since my teens, and have the majority of it committed to memory. Gulzar and Lata appropriately received the national award- each song is a beautiful gift from the duo and Hridaynath Mangeshkar. I am usually not a Suresh Wadekar fan, but he moves me to tears with the "Surmayi" song.
4- I wish there was a national award for "best locales"- because the Rajasthan featured here deserves it- the sand dunes, the colors, the sand, the unrelenting yet accepting desert- it is truly a visual feast, cliched though the term may be.

Final thoughts:
I love this movie- there is a lot of solace to be found in it. The yearning, the loneliness, the poetry of the desert all reach out to the viewer; and in the end, the real lovers are the music and the desert- both more enduring than their human counterparts.