Mumbai's lifeline is B'wood's cupid

Mumbai: The lifeline of Mumbai - the local train - that was attacked on Tuesday has been used as an anchor by many filmmakers.

Mumbai's lifeline has played cupid, conduit and character in several Bollywood films. The local train - the lifeline of Mumbai that finds itself under attack - has been used by filmmakers to symbolise many aspects of Mumbai city.

From Half Ticket starring Kishore Kumar and Madhubala to Saathiya with Vivek Oberoi and Rani Mukherjee in the lead, it was the local train that played cupid to the leading pair.

In Half Ticket, Kishore Kumar steals a ride in the train by posing as a child.

More recently, in Madhur Bhandarkar's Page 3, the local train served as the common thread between a journalist and an aspiring actress, the various paradoxes that inhabit the city of dreams.

In Page 3, the local train served as a meeting place between a journalist and an aspiring actress.

Also director Nishikant Kamat's Dombivilli Fast focused on a day in the life of a daily commuter.

Soon to be released 1:40 Ki Last Local starring Abhay Deol and Neha Dhupia is a dark comedy based around a local train.

Says the director of 1:40 Ki Last Local, Sanjay Khanduri, "Mumbai trains are a part of the city's culture, so I thought if I base something around it, people would be able to relate to it."

But that is the fantasy of the screen. In real life, the city's ancient stock of trains are crammed with an average of 4,500 people per train.

And Terrible Tuesday has now made filmmakers who have filmed in local trains press for sprucing up the locals.

In Saathiya, the local train played cupid to Vivek Oberoi and Rani Mukherjee.

Says actor Konkona Sen Sharma, "There is no security, there is no surveillance. All this needs to be incorporated in the trains and at the stations."

Actor Abhay Deol agrees and adds, "We can all see in front of us that there is no infrastructure and that the infrastructure was meant for a certain capacity, which has now exploded."

India's great hope runs on hope itself. Hope is the reason the trains were back on track less than 24 hours after the serial blasts threatened to throw them off track.

Here's hoping the locals will get the much-needed attention they so deserve. But for now, the lifeline of the city of dream is chugging along.

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