Diwali 2020: Throwback To When Films Like Mohabbetein, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham Celebrated Diwali

Diwali is still one of the biggest festivals in India, filmmakers are also eager to release movies during the festive season as it is a sure way of earning a good box office collection. However, Diwali which once made its presence felt on the big screen has gone missing from the new age of Hindi cinema.

Commercial films and potboiler entertainers still showcase other festivals like holi, dahi handi and Ganesh festival celebrated on the big screen. Even in the early 2000s, Diwali appeared as a theme, scene, song or a reference point in films, but now with new genre experimentation and content-sensitive storytelling Diwali has disappeared from films. Hoping that the festival of lights makes it back to the big screen, here are some films that saw big Diwali celebrations in Hindi Cinema.

Filmmaker Jayant Desai back in 1940 released the film titled Diwali, the black and white film starred some of the well-known actors of the time including Madhuri, Motilal, and Vasanti in pivotal roles. It success was followed by Gajanan Jagirdar's film titled Ghar Ghar Mein Diwali which released in 1955, and Deepak Asha's Diwali Ki Raat in 1956. Some of the infamous Diwali songs too come from this era. The 1943 film Kismat featured the song 'Ghar Ghar Mein Diwali Hai', in 1949 Shamshad Begum sang 'Aai Re Aai Re Diwali..' for film Seesh Mahal, and Mukesh sang 'Ek Woh Bhi Diwali' for the 1960 film Nazrana

Years later in 1972 film Anurag, the festival showed up as a prominent theme for the last time. The film showcased a scene, where the entire neighbourhood lit up and came together to celebrate Diwali to fulfil a child's dying wish, who was played by Satyajeet.

By 1990s, Bollywood had moved on to showcase Diwali only in scenes and songs. Kamal Hasan's 1998 release Chachi 420 saw Hasan's daughter get injured by a firecracker during the festival celebration. Two more blockbusters like Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Vaastav saw Diwali scenes. The iconic dialogue, 'Yeh dekh pachchass tola' comes when Sanjay Dutt visited his mother bearing Diwali.

On the other hand, Sooraj Barjatya's Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! family celebrated Diwali with the song 'Diktana' after Renuka Shahne's character gives birth to a little boy during the festive season.

In 2000, Aditya Chopra's used Diwali as a set up for a song in Mohabbetein. The song signified a union of prominent love stories between Uday Chopra, Jugal Hansraj, Jimmy Shergill, Shamita Shetty, Kim Sharma and Preeti Jhangiani's characters. Karan Johar's 2001 hit movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham too saw a scene at the beginning of the film as the characters played by Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan perform a Diwali puja.

In most recent years, the last appearance the festival made in a feature film was in Govinda, Juhi Chawla, and Tabu-starrer Aamdani Athhanni Kharcha Rupaiya. The film had a Diwali song 'Aayi hai Diwali, sunno ji gharwali' but it didn't make much buzz for the film. Despite its absence off the big screen, the festival of lights has continued to be part of stories on the small screen, mainly in daily soaps.