Rang Birangi

There was an attempt to re create comedy of Chupke Chupke but the magic was just not there. The plot was ridiculous with no witty dialogues to keep the audience entertained. The comedy seemed to be forced without the natural flow. Om Prakash, Utpal Dutt key characters in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's previous projects had nothing noteworthy to do except hamming it. The script was so weak that despite Amol Pakekar, Deven Verma, Farooq Shaikh, Parceen Babi & Deepti trying their best to raise the movie failed to generate any mirth. I wouldn't even call it mildly funny, just a bland set of scenes stitched together. Disappointing as Hrishikesh was one of my favorite directors in the light hearted movie genres. What a waste of time.

As I was scrounging around for a book to read in the weekend, I found some DVDs stacked in one corner of the cabinet. I had bought these on a whim at Crossword or Landmark, attracted by the bargains on offer – and conveniently forgotten about them. But with nothing to do in the weekends (and the missus slaving away at the office), I decided to use my time productively ...

Rang Birangi was the first movie I watched this weekend. And I couldn't help but pen down my thoughts about the movie. I normally do not write about movies that aren't playing at a multiplex near you, but then this isn't a review strictly. There is no rating at the end of it and I honestly wouldn't know how to rate such a movie. Plus I do not think old work like this should be critiqued – it should just be appreciated

But enough about myself – more about the movie

Rang Birangi was released in 1983, and was probably the last of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's iconic movies. I knew he had done a great amount of work but I was flabbergasted when I went through his actual body of work. Sample this

Anari (1959) Satyakam (1969) Guddi (1971) Anand (1971) Bawarchi (1972) Abhimaan (1973) Namak Haram(1973) Mili (1975) Chupke Chupke (1975) Golmaal (1979) Khoobsurat(1980) Naram Garam (1981) Rang Birangi (1983)

And many more in between ...

(And I have to confess I am in love with his Chupke Chupke. I can watch that movie again and again and again – and still laugh heartily every time Dharmendra fools Om Prakash)

Rang Birangi, in a way, is 'inspired' from his previous works. While the movie itself references B.R. Chopra's Pati Patni Aur Woh in the dialogues, the movie reminds you of the chaotic plots of Golmaal, Chupke Chupke and Gulzar's Angoor. Maybe it is because of the common actors – Deven Varma, Amol Palekar, Om Prakash & Utpal Dutt. And Bindiya Goswami is also there in a special appearance.

It starts off with Ajay (Amol Palekar) and Nimma (Parveen Babi) leading a peaceful but somewhat boring married life – where Ajay spends too much time at his office immersed in work. His secretary is the attractive Anita (Deepti Naval in very modern dresses), but Ajay doesn't even notice her, being the perfect gentleman. And Anita's boyfriend is Jeet (Farooq Shaikh), who is a professor and always a little suspicious of her boss's intentions.

Enter Ajay's friend Ravi (Deven Verma) who tries to bring the spark back in Ajay and Nimma's life by encouraging him to flirt with his secretary. And what starts as a simple flirting, snowballs into a majorly chaotic affair as Ravi keeps changing the script as events happen (like Dharmendra does in Chupke Chupke). Mention must be made of Utpal Dutt who makes his entry quite late into the movie. Though he doesn't have a very big role – but I had to mention him because of his character's name ! Say it aloud – "Dhurandar Bhatawadekar" !!! Rang Birangi works because of the wonderful acting by all the protagonists. Amol Palekar is especially comic in the role of poor guy caught up in events out of his control. And the script works because at any time, none of the characters (including Ravi) knows what exactly is happening – everyone knows only the partial truth.

For Rs. 45 (that's the price T-Series is selling the DVD for) it is an unbeatable bargain. Its lesser than the cost of one popcorn (if you watch movies in Mumbai multiplexes). So pick one up when you next goto a Crossword or MusicWorld - or rent it out from your nearby DVD wala if you already have a subscription. And enjoy some clean 70s humour.

I regularly write about movies at http://bisprad.blogspot.com

Amol Palekar is a well settled man - and is happily married to Parveen Babi. The life is simple and monotonus - unchanging till Deven Verma comes in picture. Deven Verma is a foreign returned jolly good fellow and he wants to spice up the life of his friend and does so by arranging the romance of boss Amol Palekar with secretary Deepti Naval, who happens to have a boy friend Professor Farooq Shaikh.

Deven Verma weaves a complex plot and makes other players partially aware of what is going on to make the situation more funny. And to make this happen he ask Farooq Shiekh to play a private detective called "Dhurandar Bhatawadekar". The real "Dhurandar Bhatawadekar" is none other than Utpal Dutt who is uncle of Parveen Babi and a high ranking police officer. And this shatters plans of Deven Verma - brings chaos and leaves us laughing....

Somehow during the 1980s Hrishikesh Mukherjee's movies were less popular. It may be because their style started looking dated to the wide audience, who by then started getting used to the mindless action movies of those years. Rang Birangi is one of Mukherjee's lesser known films, and admittedly, it is not as good as his previous comedy pictures. Having said that, it's still a very colourful and enjoyable comedy of errors which deals with marriage. The film starts very well, though towards the end the level of interest is reduced due to the rather messy proceedings. The film stars several good actors, including Amol Palekar, Parveen Babi, Deepti Naval, Farooq Shaikh, and Utpal Dutt. The one who actually shines the most is Naval, who is very natural and lovely. Parveen Babi also does the best of a character that could have looked rather bland in the hands of a less spontaneous actress. Palekar is always good at comedy, and here too he is good although at moments he loses himself. So is Shaikh. Deven Verma and Utpal Dutt are gifted comic actors who can always be counted on to bring a few laughs. Rang Birangi is benefited by a good story which is effectively told. As most Mukherjee movies, it is filled with simplicity, and the film does not take itself too seriously. Overall not among Mukherjee's best but still a fun movie which is worth the watch.

A lovely watch. One can see this with the entire family. Lovely cast, well directed, just warms the heart. Utpal Dutt is brilliant as always. Very well performed by Amol Palekar, Parveen Babi, On Prakash, Deven Varma, Dipti Naval. Everyone is outstanding!