’90S NOSTALGIA? YOU BET
The 1990s continue to lure storytellers from across the board, including Bollywood, TV as well as OTT platforms
Going on simple movie-popcorn dates, long conversations on landline phones or waiting impatiently for that Doordarshan TV show! Well, such ideas may seem outlandish in the Internet/mobile era, but they endear the ’90s to a large section of people. Precisely why Hindi filmmakers — and storytellers in general — seem to be keen on reviving the magic of that decade. Remember the Ayushmann Khurrana-Bhumi Pednekar-starrer Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) set in Haridwar of the ’90s? And more recently, the Nitesh Tiwari-directed Chhichhore (2019) and Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal also turned to the same decade. Even upcoming films such as Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, Mumbai Saga, The Big Bull and Jersey among others have a connect with the same era.
Tiwari says, “I feel the nostalgia and warmth of the ’90s — since most of us have witnessed that era — will always be a big draw. Also, more often than not, the memories of our youth or college days will always be dearest to us. And that, automatically, takes us to the ’90s.”
What does he remember most fondly about the era? “I had two clear reasons to choose the ’90s for my film. One, my characters are all grown up by the late 2010s, so I had to place them in the ’90s. Also, my college memories are from the IITBombay days of the ’90s,” he says.
Even Ali feels a “direct and close connect” with the ’90s. “I understand the texture of the romance of that era because I was there. I know those emotions very well and also how people would wear clothes, especially in small towns. So, it’s about familiarity and there was also a secret desire (vis-à-vis Love Aaj Kal) to see what happens when Dil Deewana (song from Maine Pyar Kiya; 1989) plays in a gully. Those things bring a smile to my face. So, I was like, ‘Let’s depict it and pay homage to those great films that had an influence on my life’,” the filmmaker says.
Not just films, the decade seems to have charmed other mediums as well. After all, Sony TV’s Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai has been among the top shows, while the web show, Yeh Meri Family (about a 12-year-old boy in Jaipur, Rajasthan, in the late ’90s) gained a lot of traction. Yeh Un Dinon... producer Sumeet Mittal earlier said the show took viewers “back in time when little moments of happiness were cherished”.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh observes, “As the song goes, ‘Koi lauta de mere beete huye din’, who doesn’t want to relive or re-experience the bygone era? The same holds true for filmmakers, too. Also, it’s great fun to recreate an era that you have seen but maybe, present-day audiences haven’t.”