Silsila

Yash Chopra's 1981 Indian film follows the poet Amit, who marries his brother's fiancée after his brother's death. He has to give up the woman he loves; years later the two meet again and both marriages are shaken. The film neither excuses the affair nor condemns it. Amit married out of duty and his wife pays for that too; the narrative fully faults none of the four characters. The casting directly shaped how the film was received; rumours about the real relationships among the performers were discussed apart from the film. It did not find the audience expected at the box office, while its songs remained among the best-known in Indian popular music. Who it's for: those who like classic Indian melodrama and Yash Chopra's cinema. Who it's not for: viewers looking for a measured emotional register; the film is openly melodrama and runs long.