Jun 18, 2008 04:25 PM
3461 Views
After the recent chaotic onslaught from Priyadarshan like Hera Pheri,
Bhool bhulaiya which have been nothing short of noise pollution, I was
pretty wary of catching his latest inspite of Akshaye going on and on
on various channels about how different it is...but this movie comes as
a much awaited pleasant surprise from an accomplished director.
THis movie is sweet and cohesive enough to garner few genuine laughs
along the way. Its also a heart warmer at the end of it.The biggest
strength according to me was that the cast had few characters and they
interact with each other in sensible situations. Comedy recently has
become nothing but a multistarrer melting pot of confusion where
different parties are running after each other with all chasiing some
elusive pot of gold/money.
THis film is more of a social comedy with a very strong camaraderie and
relationship between the father and son played expertly by Paresh rawal
and Akshaye Khanna. The story unfolds like this. Akshaye is an
engineering graduate turned resourceful entrepreneur with his own
superstore. His father is his soulmate cum cook cum mother cum father
cum companion all rolled into one. The father never remarried for his
son's sake and the son shares a great respect and rapport with him in
return. Then Genelia, an old classmate turns up on the scane and what
follows is a nice section with pranks and naughtiness. Meanwhile during
a wedding Paresh chances upon his exflame played by Shobhana of south
fame and the latter half of the story questions the issues of old age
marriage, children proactively arranging parents marriage and is it
love that makes the world go round?
Much to my amusement the same Paresh who went to extreme ends to ward
off the oldie Amitabh from his Tabu in cheeni kum returns in role
reversal here and its his son who actively engages in getting him
maritally resettled much to the chagrin of his old relatives and his
older bahu. Paresh is in excellent form as the father who gets into
embarrasing situations for which he is not responsible. Much of the
discredit for that goes to his bosom pal, Om Puri who is a paunchy old
rascal hitting the colleges to find his virginal soulate.His is a gross
and exaggerated character and Om has not carried it off well. One
shudders to think of the death of the fine actor in such ridiculous
roles.
Genelia Dsouza has already attained some success in south indian films
and therefore comes across as over confident in her telly
interviews.The same is apparent in hindi debut and shes easily over the
top, especially glaring in the face of the restrained and mature acting
by Paresh and Akshaye. But she definitely has screen presence and will
enjoy a good innings in Bollywood. Wish someone had dubbed her voice
with more finesse. She screeches in a accented HIndi.
Then there is Archana Puran Singh who does a take off on the FIR
policewoman, Ms Chautala who is out to nab every eve teaser in town
and hits upon with alarming regularity on the friendly duo of Paresh
and Om while the latter hunts for his bride. She is good as the loud,
cackling hen she is shown to be. Shobhana shines like a gracegul gem
in the few scenes she has. MOre of her should have been there,
considering she plays the love interest of the lead " baap" and after
whose marriage the film has been named.
Akshaye carries the role off with understanding and panache. He shows
fine balance between the dramatic and comic scenes. I particularly
liked the interplay of father and son in that palatial empty
shouse(shares by just the 2 old bachelors) where they enact their
mutual drama with infinite respect for each other's space. Its like a
play stage that requires great acting skills to fill the empty spaces
around with few props and cameos to distract. Music is also hummable
and the cimatography is also above average thus making it a pleasant
cinematic experience..
A fun film to watch with your family, free of vulgarity having good doses of romance, genuine comedy, social message and sincere performances by the lead of baap and beta.
