Action adventures conclude with a bang, blowing up everything in sight. Musicals roll out their most dazzling song and dance number. Romanc...
Action adventures conclude with a bang, blowing up everything in sight. Musicals roll out their most dazzling song and dance number. Romances settle for a passionate a kiss. In Goutam Ghose’s Paar, a couple transports a herd of pigs through the waters of a swollen river in an unforgettable 12-minute sequence.
The scene is as astonishing today as it must have been for those who watched it on the big screen when the film was released in 1984. It made viewers gasp at the audacity of Ghose’s filmmaking and left them in wonderment at the unrivalled dedication of Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah, the actors playing the couple.
The squealing pigs were real. The heads bobbing alongside them in the choppy waters of the Ganga belonged unmistakably to Azmi and Shah – except in one moment, when a replacement had to be used for Shah when things got a bit hairy.
The body-and-soul filmmaking was as unusual then as it is now. “In those days, everything was physical and you had to do it in front of the camera,” Ghose recalled. “It was a great challenge. We were courageous and that is why we could do it. This breed of actors was unbelievable – they said...
