Must-Watch Indian Films Depicting Different Shades of Grief

"Grief and love are conjoined. You don't get one without the other." This quote aptly summarises Bollywood's tryst with grief and the subsequent exploration of love (or lack thereof) through grief.

At the end of the day, if you truly think about it, doesn't all grief translate into expression, just like Bollywood films expressing their characters' grief through music, violence, or hope? Just something to ponder as you step into cinema's emotional tapestry and unravel the layers of grief's journey on the silver screen.

Grief into Humour

There's no "correct" way to deal with grief. In ‘Ram Prasad ki Tehrvi,’ we see a family grieve the loss of the patriarch uniquely, from undergoing denial and sadness to acceptance and introspection. The film ‘Karwaan’ also resembles a slow healing process from grief, coupled with self-reflection and humorous instances. While the element of the symbolic Bangalore-to-Ooty journey in ‘Karwaan’ plays a role in the protagonist's journey towards closure, the 13 days ('tehrvi') ritual is what does it in ‘Ram Prasad ki Tehrvi.’

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Grief into Violence

Revenge is a dish best served with grief, as the characters of ‘Badlapur's Raghav or ‘Kahaani's Vidya Bagchi might have us believe. We've often seen how the loss of a loved one, especially to violent crimes like murder or assault, aggravates the character's thirst for revenge.

Hrithik Roshan's character in ‘Kaabil’ or Aamir Khan's in ‘Ghajini’ both avenge the murder of their partners in gruesome, almost tit-for-tat ways. There is also the post-vengeance grief, the paradoxical moment where the revenge is satisfactory, but the grief finally hits like a truck.

Grief into Hope

There are two ways to tie grief and hope together: one is hope as a clutch to deal with grievous situations, and hope as a bait to overcome a grievous situation. ‘The Sky is Pink’ deals with shared familial grief where the daughter suffers from a chronic illness, and the family holds out hope for her recovery, whilst subconsciously processing that hope may not be enough to save a life. On the other hand, we have ‘Queen,’ where we see Rani channelling courage to go on a solo honeymoon and experience more to life than her grief.

Grief into Expression

The grief of unrequited love and the hurt from the loss of your loved one often make grief the muse. Case in point: ‘Rockstar’ and ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil!’ Protagonists in both films channel their grief into expression through music and art. ‘Rockstar's line, "Toote huye dil se hi sangeet nikalta hai," implies that great art is born from a shattered heart. Let's also not forget ‘Guzaarish’, where Hrithik's character, suffering from paralysis, finds solace in music, painting, and love.

Grief into Depression

This is grief being grief. It reminds us of the saying, "grief is just love with nowhere to go." In ‘October,’ we explore grief through Dan's perspective. Unlike traditional Bollywood narratives, October focuses less on dramatic expressions of grief and more on the quieter, internal journey of the protagonist as he tries to accept Shiuli's condition. Similarly, we see the subtle nuances of grief in Anand and Dr Bhaskar in ‘Anand’ (1971). The former, being a terminally ill patient, and the latter being his doctor and dear friend, experience two types of grief: of accepting death and of impending loss, respectively.

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