For director Mukul Anand the final day visarjan was a premise for a dramatic climax in the 1990 Agneepath whereAmitabh Bachchan is stabbed amidst huge crowds bidding farewell to the deity at the seashore. For Ram Gopal Varma, it was exposing the hero as a criminal in Satya/ 1998 as he is dragged on a noisy street as his beloved Urmila Matondkar looks shell shocked!
For Aditya Chopra the deity was a trigger for romance in Dil Toh Pagal Hai /1997 for the lead pair Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan. Khan and Dixit are attracted to each other but don’t know it or rather are unable to express it to each other. On Gurupurnima day, Madhuri is visiting her teacher and Shah Rukh decides to drive her to Pune. On reaching the ashram, Madhuri’s dance teacher Aroona Irani senses they are in love and talks to them separately, gifts both with an idol of Ganesha and tells them that He will guide them to the right path. It was a beautifully written scene.
To be continued