Rebirths and Reincarnations in Movies!

Comments [ 7 ] By Gurprit K. | 15 April 2013 | 8:21pm

Flowers blooming, birds singing and the sun shining bright, this pretty much sums up the springtime across the world. BollyCurry is celebrating April as this season of regeneration and as a part of it, we bring to you a list of movies based on rebirths and reincarnations.

One of the first movies to come to our minds when we talk about rebirth is the Shah Rukh Khan-Salman Khan starrer Karan Arjun (1995), the story of two brothers killed at the hands of their evil uncle. They're both reborn as Ajay and Vijay respectively in different households but destiny brings them together again as they avenge their father's as well as their own deaths.

Karz (1980) can safely be regarded as a film that changed the face of rebirths in Bollywood. Though, other movies based on the theme were released earlier, none compared to the success this one enjoyed. Starring Rishi Kapoor, Tina Munim and Simi Garewal in pivotal roles, Karz follows the life of Monty, an aspiring singer, who is actually a reincarnated man. In his previous birth as Ravi, he was murdered by his gold-digger wife, Kamini. How he takes his revenge on Kamini forms the rest of the plot.

Loosely inspired by Karz (1980), Om Shanti Om (2007) is named after the former's most popular song. Featuring Shah Rukh Khan, debutante Deepika Padukone, Shreyas Talpade and Arjun Rampal as pivotal characters, the movie tells the tale of Om Prakash Makhija, who is burnt to death while trying to save Shantipriya from being murdered by her director husband, Mukesh. He is reborn to a well-known actor as Om Kapoor and goes on to become a superstar himself. Upon finding out about his past life, he decides to avenge Shantipriya's death by using her doppelganger, Sandy as a trap for Mukesh.

Starring Kajol Devgn and Saif Ali Khan in the lead roles, Hameshaa (1997) starts off as the story of Raja and Yash, two childhood friends who're inseparable till they fall in love with the same girl, Rani. This leads to Yash murdering Raja and in turn, Rani, who loves Raja, too commits suicide. Years later, Yash comes across Reshma and Raju who are actually Rani and Raja reincarnated. As Reshma and Raju recollect instances of their past lives, they stop history from repeating itself when Yash tries to kill them again.

Love Story 2050 (2008) is a film which deals not only with reincarnation but also science fiction. Starring Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra as the leads, the movie is the love story of Karan and Sana. Sadly, Sana is killed in an accident before their marriage. Karan travels to 2050 and meets Ziesha who is Sana reborn. Fighting various hurdles and villains, Karan manages to take Ziesha back to 2008 as Sana.

Marking the comeback of Karisma Kapur, Dangerous Ishq (2012) deals with not one but four reincarnations of supermodel Sanjana and her boyfriend, Rohan. When Rohan gets kidnapped, a psychiatrist links it to Sanjana and Rohan's past lives. Sanjana goes through past life regression which leads her to discover that in her last three lives as well, she was in love with Rohan but they ended up getting separated every time. However, they were always reincarnated to fall in love again and again because their souls were meant to be together forever.

A Waheeda Rehman-Raaj Kumar-Manoj Kumar starrer, Neel Kamal (1968) follows the life of Sita who has a habit of sleepwalking. Circumstances lead Sita to discover that her sleepwalking is in fact related to her past life as princess Neelkamal. Neelkamal was in love with an artisan, Chitrasen, who was buried alive by her father, the king. Sita sleepwalked to Chitrasen's place every night whose soul is set free after he has a brief conversation with Neelkamal (Sita).

Madhumati (1958), starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala Bali in the lead roles, is one of the earliest films to have dealt with reincarnation. Devendra has flashes from his past life as Anand where his love, Madhumati was murdered by his ruthless and arrogant employer, Ugranarayan. Anand decides to make him confess to his crime with the help of Madhumati's lookalike, Madhavi. However, upon realizing that the person Ugranarayan confessed to was not Madhavi but Madhumati's ghost, he follows her to the terrace from which she fell and died, falling to his own death. Back in the present, it is revealed that Devendra's wife, Radha, is Madhumati reincarnated.

While some of these films have been highly successful critically as well as commercially, others didn't fare too well resulting into films based on rebirths and reincarnation becoming less common now. Do share your views on movies dealing with this theme, do you like it or is it something too hard to connect to.

Author: Neethi B.
Editors: Komal P. & Hershi J.
Graphics: Marsh P.

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