Rang Barse!

Rang Barse Chunarvali, Rang Barse....

That song has been playing in my head for days. Which is no surprise, considering it's Holi today. Please go check out this link to watch/hear it for yourself. And while this is definitely Bollywood, the essential Holi-related traditions of drinking milk spiked with bhang (aka cannabis), wearing white, and playing with colors to welcome in spring are all there.

The Bollywood Holi clip needs some additional description. It comes from a movie called Silsila from the early eighties and stars all the heartthrobs and beauties of that decade. The scene opens on Amitabh, next you see Rekha (with the long braid). The next full person you see is Jaya (with the long open hair, wearing a saree). Finally, there is a screen shot of a man on the drums. Silsila was THE scandalous movie of the time and I remember being told to go to bed (and get myself far far away from the VCR player and TV) on the night my parents watched this movie. It dealt with extramarital affairs.

In this scene, Amitabh drinks the *special* milk, gets high, and pursues his friend's wife, Rekha (who was his lover before they each married different people). Amitabh's wife, Jaya, and Rekha's husband, Drummer Man, at first laugh it off, but as the playing around gets more intense, Jaya and Drummer Man don't look so happy!