The year is 1999. Ramkishenji, an industrialist of repute, has an onerous task ahead of him. His three sons — Vivek, Prem and Vinod — are preparing to take over his business empire. He must now find them suitable brides.

On his wedding anniversary, Ramkishen makes a promise to his wife. It is this: once the acquisition of three obliging bahus is complete, he will spend all his time with her. His wife (aptly named Mamta) gushes at the prospect. And thus begins the couple’s quest for the trinity of saadgi , saralta and mehnat (simplicity, straightforwardness and hard work).

The first bahu they successfully scout is Sadhna. She has been raised by a single father in videsh . Yet her idea of a honeymoon is a family trip to Rampur.

(Parivar 1, Akelapan 0)

A little further along the plot is bahu number 2, Dr Preeti. She has also been raised by a single father. But that in no way hampers her ability to make a mean gajar ka halwa .

(Parivar 2, Akelapan 0)

And finally, there’s Sapna. Feisty without being opinionated, her most redeeming quality is that she is a great substitute for an alarm clock. Most interestingly, she has also been raised by a single father.

And thus the parivar has won. The Trinity is complete. Ramkishenji can now retreat to marital bliss: all his worldly duties have been performed. The celluloid roll ends.

But here’s what Sapna, Sadhna and Preeti of Hum Saath-Saath Hain do not know yet: their motherlessness is no coincidence. It is a plot device that has been used before. Ten years earlier, to be specific, when a motherless Suman is the ideal bride for Prem in Maine Pyaar Kiya . And it’s a device that will be used again, seven years later, in Vivah . Bitto, raised by Krishnakanth, is also made conspicuous by the absence of a mother-figure in her life. (She is an orphan, and has an estranged relationship with her aunt.)

But that’s just the women. Men, too, fall prey to parentlessness in Sooraj Barjatya’s world. Prem and Rakesh in Hum Aapke Hain Koun are orphans raised by chachaji. There are two Prems in Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon , but the winning Prem (played by Hrithik Roshan) is an orphan. Prem in Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo is an orphan. His lookalike, Yuvraj Singh, is another orphan.

Parentlessness is a tool invented to exemplify the worth of a hansta khelta parivar . If the large parivar is sukhi , it is in stark contrast to the incompleteness of a family foiled by tragedy. The parivar is designed to be a most exclusive club, and everyone wants to be a part of it. It’s all about loving your parents. Unless they’re dead, that is.

“Orphans make the best recruits.”

These wise words are spoken by M in Skyfall . She is talking about James Bond, who is an orphan. She reasons that orphans are mavericks. They have evolved without the protection of wholesome familial forces.

They are self-sufficient. They have learned the difficult task of looking after themselves, by themselves. Which makes them great spies and superheroes.

There’s also the classic orphan recklessness. Orphans aren’t tied down. They wear loneliness like a second skin. They embrace danger because they have nothing to lose. It makes them brave. It makes them unreasonable in the face of poor odds. It helps them take on villains and insurmountable forces.

One more attribute can make an orphan destined for greatness: that his or her sense of identity is fluid. The anchorage is lost. Orphans can become anyone, because they can embrace anonymity and fame equally, in a way the rest of us cannot.

It’s for all these reasons that an orphan became Iron Man. And Batman, and Spiderman. And Luke Skywalker. And Harry Potter.

In Western pop culture, orphans mostly make for great protagonists because they struggle to fill their voids with fighting crime and avenging their pasts. They are pessimists. Unsure of their worth in the world. Unknowing of the beauty of love. Their tortured souls seek dangerous distractions.

In Barjatya films, however, orphans are a lot more reasonable. May we even say, more mature. They fill their voids — not with life-threatening ambitions to save the world, but far more optimistically — with the quest for a replacement of their lost parivar .

Parentlessness in Indian cinema, however, isn’t just a Barjatya trope. It pans the entirety of Bollywood. In Kuch Kuch Hota Hai , Tina, Rahul and Anjali have three dead parents between them. In Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham , Anjali, Pooja and Naina have zero living mothers between them. Naina and Aman in Kal Ho Naa Ho have both lost their fathers. Not to mention those notable orphans: Sameer in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam ,Sanjana in Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha and Rohit in Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai .

From Raja to Raja Hindustani (orphans both), protagonists and plots have been spurred on by the quest for family. Where in Western cultures the orphans seek masochistic adventure, in India orphanhood cultivates a wholesome yearning for mamta and bhabhiji. So that Barjatya and his acolytes can then lay a solid foundation for the aforementioned hansta khelta parivar .

Sneha Vakharia is a Delhi-based writer

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