MovieChat Forums > Silsila (1981) Discussion > Ending?

Ending?

posted 16 years ago by roseytrebles
4 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone else think the ending seem kind of tacked on? I mean I get the idea that he felt obligated to go back to his wife, but did they have to romp around in flowers and then have "LOVE IS FAITH" emblazoned across the screen? I felt like it might have been catering to the audience a little bit, reflecting what they would like to think Amitabh's motivations were for staying married to Jaya (who knows what they really were--could be, of course). Plus faithlessness in Indian culture isn't one to really be rewarded. I just thought it was a little jarring to suddenly tout this one kind of love way over the other, more passionate kind, when the whole movie was about how powerful the latter was. I guess the printed message across the screen isn't really unusual for Yash Chopra films though.

Also, what happened to poor Rekha? I guess it's implied that her marriage works out much the same way, but I felt kind of sad that they just ditched her at the end.

[–] InfiniteCinema 15 years ago

Yes, yes, and yes. Made all the more mind-boggling by something so out of left field as a plane crash. I was buying all the other plot contrivances despite being, well, contrivances. But a plane crash??!! Complete with a rescue that would make Superman jealous! However it did help that Jaya's character along the way does seem to subtly but definitely fall in love with him but Amitabh's character never really seems to at least kind of fall in love back. No seeds are ever planted other than his sense of duty that justify this ending on an emotional level.

[–] roseytrebles 15 years ago

Yeah, totally! I really hated Jaya’s face when she stood there in that Jaya way and told Amitabh that she was pregnant. In case you can’t tell, I really don’t like Jaya. And no, he really did not seem into her ever—except, perhaps, for the mystifying last song. The plane crash came as something of a surprise.

[–] bostonfilmfan 12 years ago

I suppose this might be a case of cultural differences. I had the same feelings of disappointment at the end of he movie but I was telling myself: it's a movie made in a completely different culture. I mean most of the marriages in India are arranged even today and that's the way people live. Besides, the words about faith did not just appear at the final frame: the wife keeps talking about faith throught the movie and at some point she even addresses Krishna in a song... I think there are signs in this movie that outsiders just cannot read.

[–] Forlorn_Rage 8 years ago

Did anyone else think the ending seem kind of tacked on?

This may be sacrilege for many people, but Yash Chopra seems ridiculously smug with himself at how silly his romantic movies would get (Veer Zaara, urgh), then say it's because of "faith" and "destiny."

I mean I get the idea that he felt obligated to go back to his wife, but did they have to romp around in flowers and then have "LOVE IS FAITH" emblazoned across the screen? I felt like it might have been catering to the audience a little bit, reflecting what they would like to think Amitabh's motivations were for staying married to Jaya (who knows what they really were--could be, of course). Plus faithlessness in Indian culture isn't one to really be rewarded. I just thought it was a little jarring to suddenly tout this one kind of love way over the other, more passionate kind, when the whole movie was about how powerful the latter was. I guess the printed message across the screen isn't really unusual for Yash Chopra films though.

But, he does get rewarded in a sense. He gets a "happy ending," however unbelievable and ridiculous it was.

Also, what happened to poor Rekha? I guess it's implied that her marriage works out much the same way, but I felt kind of sad that they just ditched her at the end.

She's an adulteress. Apparently, Chopra didn't think she was worthy of any attention toward the end when Shobha and Amit suddenly got together. Who could've known that was his ultimate endgame after all? -_-"