In 2003-the son of B R Chopra-Ravi Chopra made a comeback of sorts bringing the banner back to the bigscreen with BAGHBAN. As expected from the banner-the movie was a simple story (an update of the classic Rajesh Khanna starrer AVATAAR) with embezzled with superb performances and a social message which had the family audiences hooked despite being preachy and flawed in its screenplay. Seeped in traditional ethos with a very old-school style of storytelling Ravi Chopras BAGHBAN turned into a surprise HIT of the year.
3 years later Ravi Chopra attempts to recreate the same message with the same principal cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Salman Khan, a socially relevant theme, and a movie seeped in traditionalism-so does BAABUL work? Well it does partially however the movie does have its share of flaws too.
The movie revolves around Balraj(Amitabh Bachchan)-a wealthy businessman for whom his family, family values, culture and traditions are the most important. His wife Shobhna(Hema Malini) is his pillar of strength and the two adore their only son Avinash(Salman Khan) who returns home from America after studying for 7 years abroad. Balraj and Shobhnas lives are filled with happiness with the return of their son!
Avinash meets Millie(Rani Mukherjee). A simple middle-class girl, and the two fall in love with each other and decide to get married. Millies childhood friend Rajat(John Abraham) has always been in love with Millie however is never been able to express it to her-after she gets married he decides to move to Europe forever to pursue his musical career.
On the other hand Avinash and Millie are blessed with a little boy named Ansh. However fate has something else in store as Avinash is killed in a accident. Millies life really dark and unbearable, and both Balraj and Shobhna struggle to smile, as they try to find their son Avinash in Ansh.
Seeing Millie so sad simply rips Balraj apart and he decides to find Rajat and asks him to marry her so that Millie can again start LIVING her life rather than live in the past.
When Bachchan informs Shobhna she is completeley against the idea as she doesn’t want to lose her grandson, and Balrajs elder nrother Balwant(Om Puri) heavily objects as he is strictly against the idea of widows remarrying(heck he finds it a bad omen if a widow comes to a wedding). What happens next? BAABUL provides the answer!
Ravi Chopra has no doubt again written a socially relevant subject that is close to his heart. Is it evident that BAABUL is a very honest film with noble intentions, and like BAGHBAN, this is again a theme that is still relevant in society today(don’t know on how big the scale is). His style of direction and narrative is deifnetly old-school and like Sooraj Barjatyas recent VIVAH-this is another movie that is completely seeped and traditional Indian values and morals. However-BAABUL is a progressive film(like Amitabh rightly said in his interview)-the movies style or presentation may not be progressive, however the movies theme and story most deifnetly is and kudos to Mr Chopra for that.
The screenplay in the movie is slightly jumbled. The movie starts out rather slowly and moves at a VERY leisurely pace. Infact-the entire first half of the movie retreads on the same material that films like EK RISHTAA, KABHIE KHUSHI KABHIE GHAM, WAQT, BAGHBAN etc have done in one way or another. The second half of the movie is no doubt when the story really kicks in and from here on the movie is a winner!
As a director Ravi Chopra again proves that he is a director who knows how to tell a mature story. As mentioned above-his style of storytelling maybe old-school however the message he is trying to convey here is very much modern. He takes his time to tell the story and build up the rapport between the viewers and his characters, sadly most of his characters are all clichéd/repeats of those witnessed in countless movies prior. The second half is where Chopra shows his directing prowess and engrosses the viewer emotionally. The director knows how to make the viewer cry-the cinema where I saw the movie was completely packed and the entire cinema was constantly sniffing and crying throughout the duration of the second half.. There were even claps and cheers in the climax of the movie with Bachchans speech(thankfully not as sermonising as his final speech in BAGHBAN). One just wishes that Ravi Chopra had added some freshness to his characters and his presentation as they give the movie a relatively “been there seen that” feel to it and the first half of the movie definetly comes across as flat, while the second half is engrossing.
There are a few scenes which deserve a special mention-as the emotional quotient even got to me!
• Salman and Ranis son sitting in the cupboard alone where he can sense his father smell • Rani dancing alone in the rain with Salmans sweater • Bachchan goes to meet John for the first time-this is such a simple yet dignified scene and the vunerability Bachchan portrays here is simply marvellous • The climax
The performances in the movie range from good-great!
Amitabh Bachchan gives a FANTASTIC performance. The actor, once again completely dominates a movie in every frame he is in and delivers a performance that CONNECTS with the viewer. Over the years one has seen Bachchan the father countless times with films like EK RISHTAA, KABHIE KHUSHI LABHIE GHAM, BAGHBAN, WAQT, VEER-ZAARA etc and I would like to add the kind of persona of a “rich, family guy” is something I would personally rather NOT see Bachchan in. I would much rather see Amitabh in roles/films like KHAKEE, AKS, KAANTE, BLACK, DEV and heck even VIRRUDH! However one cannot deny that Bachchan brings such a warm aura and a high amount of credibility to these types of roles that it is hard not to like him. This is probably one of his most maturest performances, but in an attempt to be mature-Bachchan also comes across flat at times. In the first half he is enthusiastic as usual, and shares good chemistry with Salman though the whole “buddy buddy” thing got annoying after a while. Its only in the second half when the performance really kicks in and Bachchan gets into form. In saying that once again-unlike BAGHBAN where Bachchans character got energetic and romantic even in the second half, this is a rather tragic tale in a sense, and Bachchans character is relatively quiet and mature throughout. The scene where Amitabh Bachchan stands outside and talks to the stars is simply a KNOCKOUT for its emotional quotient. I would like to add here that BAABUL touches on many of the themes that Mahesh Manjrekars VIRRUDH touched on, however VIRRUDH is a more powerful movie in every sense of the way and one that is criminally underrated. BAABUL is a relatively “happy” movie in the sense, while VIRRUDH is extremely bleak and dark(which is what set it apart).Your heart never quiet reaches out for Balraj as much as it did for Vidyadhar Pathwardhan!
Hema Malini is utterly wasted in her role. Those that were expecting the same kind of chemistry that was in BAGHBAN or even VEER-ZAARA they will be disappointed as Malini doesn’t get much scope to perform. She looks stunning and plays her part efficiently, however despite one scene towards the end of the movie her character is a mere caricature. I also found, that Ravi Chopra had relied too much on previous movies of Amitabh and Hema in order to make the chemistry work here and it came across as fake though easy on the eye.
Rani Mukherjee is EXCELLENT here and this is a performance where she deserves a Nomination for Best Actress! In both PAHELI and the recent KABHIE ALVIDAA NA KEHNAA she didn’t impress me much, and in the latter gyrated on my nerves. However in BAABUL she gives a tremendous account of herself and performs her part remarkably well. Her emotional scenes are stunning and her delivery, getup and body language are all simply fantastic. She is a complete natural and plays her part with maturity and understanding-hats off to Rani.
Must add-the chemistry that she shares with Amitabh is simply FANTASTIC and the two are a pleasure to watch when they are on-screen together.
Salman Khans performance itself is good. After JAANEMAN this is the second movie in a row where he is a natural without going overboard. His comedy is well timed, and he exudes charm everytime he is onscreen. In order for a movie like BAABUL to “click” as such, one has to like Salmans character in order to get the tears rolling for when he’s not there, and in that sense Salman succeeds in playing his part. His scenes with Amitabh on the other hand are nothing more than a cliché as actors like Akshay Kumar, Shahrukh Khan and even Abhishek himself have all done these to death.
John Abraham is a SURPRISE! The boy really surprises with such a nuanced performance and after Big B and Rani-its John who completey rocks this movie in a mature role. John lends to the movie a remarkable amount of credibility by making his character so amiable, that its hard to to appreciate the guy. He looks smashing, emotes really well and lights the movie up with his presence everytime he is onscreen. Since 2005 with KARAM, I have always found John to be constantly improving as an actor with films like VIRRUDH, GARAM MASALA, ZINDAA, TAXI No.9211, and he doesn’t disappoint with BAABUL. Also note the variety of genres that he has worked on of late, and its certainly promising to see John fit into such a “traditional” genre with such ease. Eagerly looking forward to Nagesh Kukunoors AASHAYEIN, Anurag Kashyaps NO SMOKING, and Nikhil Advanis SALAAM-E_ISHQ to see more of John in form.
Om Puri is loud as he is required to me. It amazes me how Puri is able to pull off playing Amitabh Bachchans elder brother, despite there being a 10 year gap between the two actors. The role was initially written with Amrish Puri in mind(tailoremade for him). I must add I have NEVER been a advocate for an actor of Om Puris stature and talent to be playing such inane roles in movies like BAABUL, though it’s a pleasure to see Puri on the big-screen again after Govind Nihlanis near masterpiece DEV. Where in DEV-Puri(arguably) stole the show, here he doesn’t even get a chance to shine.
Sharat Saxena is likeable. Its always a pleasure to see him in positive character. Saxena is superb in the emotional sequences, and I wished there was more of him in the movie.
Rajpal Yadav is royally wasted. The actor doesn’t even get any good comic scenes like he did in WAQT.
Sarika is rememorable in her part, and leaves a mark in the climax.
Smita Jaykar, Aman Verma, Parmeet Sethi, and Avtar Gill are all below the mark.
The music in the movie is just OK. I didn’t think much of COME ON COME ON which seemed like it was a rehash of countless Amitabh songs of late. KEH RAHA HAI too is just OK.
HAR MANZAR rocks! The song has been superbly picturised and leaves a impact. The Qawalli GAA RE MANN too is easy on the ears. The pick of the lot is no doubt the song KEHTAA HAI BAABUL rendered in Bachchans voice-the song is sad, surreal and haunting everytime it appears in the movie. Just wish there was more of Bachchan singing.
Technically the film is good. Barun Mukherjees camerawork is well done. However editing by Godfrey Gonsalves could’ve been better.
All up where does that leave BAABUL? Well in todays day and age it may not be everyones cup of tea. It is definetly traditional and old-school and the movie does have its fiar share of flaws as far as direction goes-namely the slow pace. However the movie is VERY high on emotional quotient and embezzled with a progressive story as well as some sparkling performances by Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, John Abraham and Salman Khan-frankly-I LIKED IT!
Final Rating: * * * ½
