Holi, the hugely popular festival of colours, is a Bollywood filmmaker's favourite backdrop to unleash a riot of emotions.

Of all the myriad festivals in the country, Holi is the favourite among Mumbai-based Hindi filmmakers who use it usually as an excuse for inserting a song-and-dance sequence in which the female lead gets drenched and the male lead gets inebriated.

There was a time when every Bollywood film had a Holi song. The frequency may have reduced of late but in comparison to the near fade-out of other popular festivals like Diwali and Karva Chauth from film scripts, Holi still reigns.

The promos of the soon-to-be-released film "Delhi Heights" chiefly feature a Holi song. The film's release is appropriately timed close to the actual festival that was celebrated across northern India on Sunday.

Though the film claims to be based on lives of people in the fast-track in the Indian capital, its makers could not resist the temptation of throwing in a colourful, fun-filled number featuring the entire cast of the film including Jimmy Shergill, Neha Dhupia and Rohit Roy.

Sung by Kailash Kher and Sonu Kakkar, "Ey gori", has been ruling most music charts over the festive weekend. Come Friday and we will know whether the Holi song can lend resplendent colour to this film just as it has for more than five decades now. The festival has become an important event for nearly all soap operas on television.

Not so long ago "Waqt", "Baghban" and "Lagaan", among others, tried to recreate the magic of Holi songs. In fact, in the late 1950s - the era of early colour films - the festival provided filmmakers a welcome chance to sprinkle the screen with a splurge of colour:

"Holi ayee re Kanhai" in "Mother India" and "Arrey ja re hat natkhat" of "Navrang" were among the first couple of songs to put the festival on the silver screen.

Filmmakers also used the festival to mark a turn-point in the script. So much so that it had become a tradition that a Holi or Diwali sequel would end with news of a tragedy.

Ramesh Sippy used a Holi song, "Holi ke din dil khil jaate hain" in blockbuster "Sholay" to depict the blooming love and revelry between Dharmendra and Hema Malini, before gangsters seize the village.

Continuing the tradition, Yash Chopra's "Silsila" gave viewers one of the best ever Holi songs in which ex-lovers Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha threw inhibitions and flirted unabashedly even as their respective spouses in the film, Jaya Bhaduri and Sanjeev Kumar, looked on.

Chopra's other films with memorable Holi songs include "Mashaal" in 1984 that boasted of the still popular "Holi aayi holi aayi dekho holi aayee re". Then again in "Darr" he merged revelry with horror as obsessive lover Shah Rukh Khan sang "Ang se ang lagana sajan mohe aise rang lagana" for Juhi Chawla.

Given Indian cinema's propensity for melodrama, the festival of Holi has been utilised for conveying a range of emotions. It is effectively used by characters to cover up the pain in their lives, or to juxtapose one person's happiness with another's sorrow or even to forgive old rivals.

As scripts are evolving, however, depiction of Holi on the silver screen has gone down. Currently, Holi songs are used as item numbers in films. But as long as song-and-dance routines are an integral part of Bollywood films, Holi will continue to provide the best backdrop for unfurling of deep emotions.

The Hindi film industry heartily enjoys Holi off-screen as much as on-screen. The likes of Bachchan and Yash Chopra are known for throwing grand Holi parties.

Anil Kapoor was spotted this week celebrating Holi on the location of his forthcoming film "Black & White" in Mumbai, bringing back memories of Holi bashes at late Raj Kapoor's RK Studios.

During the hey days of RK Studios, as new entrants poured into the industry, people would wait to see which of them were invited to Holi at RK. Long ago, when Rekha was the subject of disdain for her ties with Bachchan, she made a high profile entry at RK's Holi celebrations. She touched Raj Kapoor's feet. And that was all it took. She was 'accepted' into the group of stars.

Regulars at the RK Holi events included Bachchan, director Manmohan Desai, actors Kamini Kaushal, Pran and Premnath. Even when Raj Kapoor's health dwindled, the Holi festivities continued, until two years before his death in 1988.

Bollywood's obsession over Holi is not welcomed by all. It is often seen as a perfect example of the tendency of Hindi filmmakers to predominantly cater to the Northern audiences thereby promoting festivals, culture and ethos of the region.

Other popular Indian festivals like Pongal, Dussehra, Eid, Gokulashtami and Navratri are seldom seen on the celluloid. Even Diwali, the biggest festival of the country, has not hogged as much limelight as Holi.

Of the films made with Diwali in mind, most are from the early 1940s and 50s. In 1940, there was a film titled "Diwali", directed by Jayant Desai. In 1956, "Diwali Ki Raat" was released, starring Talat Mahmood. Around the same time, Gajanan Jagirdar released his film titled "Ghar Ghar Mein Diwali". Since then, there has been a paucity of films with Diwali as the main theme.

References to Diwali do exist in films but most do not have very positive associations like in "Chirag" when Asha Parekh loses her sight when firecracker goes off. Similarly in "Chachi 420", Kamal Haasan's daughter is a victim of a rocket gone awry and suffers burns. And then again, most sequences of Diwali celebrations end with bad news. No wonder Holi reigns supreme on Indian celluloid.