Enkayaar, Bollywood Trade News Network

Occasions provide an opportunity to use them as the base to look into the aspects, which have otherwise been consigned to the annals of the history. When the world is celebrating No Car Day today, it indeed provides an opportunity to look into how the humble bicycle has faired in the Hindi films.

As a matter of fact cycles have gone out of vogue, as far as its role in the Hindi films is concerned. In the golden era, most of the times when the female actors used to make their debut in the film, 99 out of 100 times, it was on a bicycle singing merrily with a bunch of friends, and the hero popping as the song ended, tumbling the whole entourage. The humor was created when Rajinder Nath used to pop along with the hero, more often than not with Shammi Kapoor. Incidentally some of the haunting and romantic songs have been created on the cycle, be it ''Akela Hoon Main is Duniya mein'', from BAAT EK RAAT KI'', to ''Main Chali Main Chali Dekho Pyaar Ki gali from PROFESSOR, '' Maine Kasam li from TERE MERE SAPNE''. As a matter of fact TERE MERE SAPNE was the film where the cycle was predominantly used throughout the film. Among the triumvirate of Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, only Dev Anand had patronized the humble cycle in the same way as the car. Rajinder Kumar was another star that used to pick up a bicycle without any hesitation.

Amitabh Bachchan was also seen in cycle in score of films, be it in KHUDDAR, or KAALIA, it seems the usage of cycle was governed more by the socio-economic position of the film star. Cycle as a status symbol came into prominence when Salman Khan patronized it in MAINE PYAAR KIYA, and it was after a long time that the racing cycle was used so it came to be symbolic of youth, in the same manner, as motorcycle has become for the youth of the yore. Govinda was another star who had used cycle to maximum effect in score of films, and one of the few hit songs that Amit Kumar sang in his career in second phase ''Jaane de Jaane de Mujhe Jaane De''... from SHOLA AUR SHABNAM, as also in AANKHEIN. Farah Khan also created a magic using cycles in QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK, and Aamir Khan created a whole film out of cycle JO JEETA WOHI SIKANDER, which is one of the finest films made eulogizing the virtue of cycle.

As a medium of protest cycle was used as a great prop in Jackie Shroff starrer GARDISH, more so in the climax scene. In the recent memory it happened with Hrithick Roshan in his debut film KAHO NA PYAAR HAI.

When the films in the western world are contextualized in the great bicycle tracks, and when an Indian bicycle track has been opened up in Himachal Pradesh from this year, and adventure being the buzz word in the films these days, a day is not far off when somebody would situate a film on this trail.


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