Wahida Rehman and Raj Kapoor

Wahida Rehman And Raj Kapoor

Wahida Rehman acted in the films of almost all the established directors of the 50s, 60s and 70s. She acted in only few films opposite Raj Kapoor but the films were successful. In Ek dil Sau Afsana, she played the role of the wife of Raj Kapoor who had to convince her mother-in-law played by Lalita Power who tested her capability of handling household affairs and responsibilities of mother. The songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film including “tum hi tum ho”, became successful.


The most notable film of Raj Kapoor and Wahida Rehman included Teesri Kasam. It was an experiment of notable director of Basu Bhattacharya and the film was produced by legendary lyricist Shailendra.

The film had a very abstract subject. Wahida Rehman was a tawaif who had participated in the major fairs in the villages which were called nautankis. These village fairs were organized to fulfill the tastes of rural masses. Wahida Rehman played the major role in these nautankis as she was the leading dancer.

Raj Kapoor was a bullock -cart driver and earned his livelihood out of the profession. He interacted with Wahida Rehman and realized that she was a respectable lady. The film revolved around the relationship between the innocent cart-driver and the successful dancer.

All the songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan and sung by Lata and Asha became landmark hits. Songs like “aa aa bhi jaa”, “pan khai saia”, “mare gaye”, not only had good orchestration but also had rural effect. The songs of Mukesh and Manna Dey like “duniya bananewale”, “sajanre jhut maat bolo”, “chalet musafir”, became super duper hits.


Although the film did not get commercial success to the extent of the other films of Raj Kapoor, the critics appreciated the natural performance of Raj Kapoor and Wahida Rehman.These films should be restored for their filmic value.

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.