Review of Mere Baap Pehle Aap.

Review of Mere Baap Pehle Aap

Priyadarshan had directed a number of successful comedy films in the recent past. That is why the film Mere Baap Pehle Aap had a lot of expectations. The story involves Paresh Rawal, the father meeting his teenage partner Shobhna. His son Akshay Khanna is also involved in romance. His friend Om Puri is also an old person, who is a divorcee and is in search for a girl for marriage.

Paresh Rawal brought up his two sons, Akshay Khanna and Manoj Joshi, after their mother died. But Akshay Khanna acted as the guardian of Paresh Rawal. Akshay Khanna got involved with Sheekha Kapoor who was his old college friend. Very siginificantly Sheekha Kapoor’s guardian was Shobhna, who was the college friend of Paresh Rawal.

Both Sheekha and Akshay tried to arrange for marriage of Paresh Rawal with Shobhna after knowing their past relationship. The entire climax was build on serio-comic angles.

The problem of the films lies with the lack of substance which can make people laugh automatically. Priyadarshan had provided quality films like Malamaal Weekly, where the comedy instincts originated from the innocence of villagers who were involved with lottery tickets. Even in the stories of Hera Pheri, the events related to the innocence of Paresh Rawal made the film interesting.

The performance of Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and others in Mere Baap Pehle Aap, were not that great, and the script was not too supportive also. The only hope is the general demand of the viewers for comedy films over the last few years. The audience expect Priyadarshan to direct better films in the future.

By: Rumi Chatterji.

Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterji.

Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterji.

There was a popular debate in the 60s about who was a superior actor of Bengali films Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterji. The debate did arise because Soumitra acted in the films of one of the greatest directors of world cinema Satyajit Ray. His performance in the films Apur Sangsar, Sonar Kella, Joy Baba Felunath, Abhijaan, were highly appreciated by the intellectual audience.

Where as Uttam Kumar was the greatest charishmatic hero who could perform in any type of role including zamindar in the film Stri, Sanyasi Raja. He played the role of king in the film Zinder Bandi. Who played the double role in Bhranti Bilas and in the serio-comic subject matter showed his comedy skills. No Indian actor had given better lips in songs like Uttam Kumar. He received even national award for best performance in the film Antony Firingi where all the songs sung by Manna Dey were master-pieces.

In fact the entire Bengali film industry revolved around Uttam Kumar, as Hemant Kumar, Shaymal Mitra, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar got success in Bengali films by giving playback for Uttam Kumar. The best directors of Bengal like Ajoy Kar, Tapan Sinha, Pinaki Mukherjee, Agradut, Agragami could experiment in Bengali films only due to Uttam Kumar. The careers of best actresses of Bengali films like Suchitra Sen, Arundhuti Debi, Sabitri Chatterji, were related to Uttam Kumar as they complimented his powerful performances. Lastly the tremendous performance of Chabi Biswas, Bikash Roy, Kali Banerjee were associated with epic films where Uttam Kumar played the central character.

Soumitra Chatterjee was a very cultured, educated, soft personality and is still respected for his selective performances by every section of the society. But Uttam Kumar was the uncrowned monarch and the debate was resolved by Satyajit Ray himself by casting Uttam Kumar in the epic film Nayak, where he showed he was unparallel matinee idol. Instead of proving the greater worth of both actors, the viewers should appreciate their performances and their films should be restored and preserved.