Baghban

Lately, Bollywood has churned out movies with tremendous show of skin and exhibitionism, but this movie is such a stark contrast and is one of the reasons that it works. In this movie they have dealt with the age-old issue of children not willing to take the responsibility of their parents when the parents are considered "useless" by their children. Although we have seen such movies in the past like Avtar and Amrit, but what is different about this movie is the way they have shown the romance of an old couple. I can't remember seeing such romance in any other Hindi movie, so it is refreshing to see that even an old couple can have youthful romance.

This is one of those movies that makes you think and analyze your relationship with your parents. As one's parents get older their habits get formed and many times members of the younger generation (myself included) get angry at them and I felt how important it is to overlook the immediate state of your parents, and instead to reflect on how they have toiled in bringing you up. Another question that arose in my mind after watching the movie was whether parents have children so that they have someone to take care of them or do they have children without any ulterior motive. After having discussions with my Mom (in relation to this movie) I realized that, yes, everyone does have expectations, but that's not the reason that they work so hard to build a child's future. In fact, as a child, we have expectations from our parents through our dependence on them, so why should we accuse them of wrongdoing when we have similar expectations. It is human to want to be loved, and that's the least we can do for our parents. Well, after reading this lengthy philosophical discussion you can see how thought-provoking this movie is. Let me get back to the movie. After a long time I have enjoyed watching Amitabh Bachchan, and Hema Malini's performance was so subtle and yet she gave a powerful performance. There is one scene in particular, where she tells Amitabh to have his medicine (right before they get separated) and one moment she has her eyes shut and the next moment her eyes are filled with tears. In this movie I didn't find much melodrama and the dialogues are hard-hitting and are to the point. Finally, the performance of Paresh Rawal, is, as usual, very good. I hope everyone watches this movie with their families.

Last week I watched BAGHBAN and I found film based on truth. Sir Amitabh with his legendary performances has once again proved that he is the star of all the times and the legend of the new millenium. What should I say about Madam Hema Mailini, she really knows the magic how to grasp time in her hand and as time has passed she has really become more beautiful. Madam Hema Malini's performances were also fabulous. And about Salman Khan, this is the first film where I have liked his performances.

Okay, the movie has a good theme--people should not forget their parents and discard them when they get old. However, I don't see some of the things happening in real life, especially things like Amitabh's glasses not being repaired. Sometimes the anger was also justified such as the late-night typewriter incident and the daughter coming back home at 3 AM (since they didn't know the true story). Somethings were just over-doing it, such as Salman and Mahima literally worshiping Salman's parents. The ever-growing love between Amitabh and Hema was really sweet. It was nice to see elderly, true love after watching cliched perfect 20s romance in every movie. What I especially didn't like about this movie is that it put women back in the 19th century where they are supposed to sit on the edge of their chair every evening, waiting for their husband to open the door; they should live in the kitchen. Hema's dialogue, "Times may change, but a woman's role never changes" ticked me off. However, this whole movie was made up by the climax, which was one extraordinary speech by Amitabh. His perfect eloquence is unmatchable by any other orator in Indian cinema. His words envelope you and take you on an emotional roller coaster.

Baghban - the first curiosity came with what the name rely meant. And the second curiosity was that could Hema still look so stunning!! The second one was yes she can!!! And as for the first one it came after watching the movie. I understood why its meant to mean the caretaker or Guardian. The movie is trying make a metaphoric relationship between an individual and their family and comparing it to a garden. Your family are like a garden, you have to slave over it and look after it for it to flourish and thrive, and any neglect will result in a weeded unattractive piece of earth. But the relationship that one has with their garden is very interactive - the gardener will put all their effort in trying to get a thriving garden and in turn the garden will reward the gardener with a sense of achievement, and fruits of labour.

This is the topic that Baghban is tackling - family life, and more specifically the life of the elderly. All their lives, our parents thrive the give us the best, to ensure all our wishes and dreams are achieved, to ensure that our lives are given more priority over theirs. But in this modern world what is excepted in return? Maybe the saying is true - nothing is free is this world - not even the love from your parents. Can we say that there is an expectation from our parents that we should look after them in their old age? Is it a sense of duty? NO - it is essence of humanity and gratitude that we should foster and love those that have loved us - and should not be obliged to do so but cause we want to do so. If we look around us there are so many children that have been abandoned, abused or neglected - so we should be grateful that we are not one of them and its are parents that are responsible for it.

The essence of this story has been integrated into Baghban with Amitabh and Hema being the head of the household. Both churning out wonderful performances. It was great to see Hema after such a long time and looking still fab as memory recollects from the 70's. Amitabh delivered a wonderful performance as a hurt, angry and confined old man, and its good to see such roles being written for him. The pair together brought a sense of love and comfort not seen onscreen for quite some time. Their four sons and their families give out appropriate performances and help to pull the movie along. Also the guest appearances are good and adequate. The show stealer has to be Paresh Rawal. Indirectly or intentionally the guest appearances and Paresh characters iterate the fact that friends you can choose, but family you can't - and in times of need it is your friends that stand by you and not your family.

The story has been told many a times before but maybe because it is made now at a time when such a message has to be iterated again, or it was the combination of direction and acting that made this a memorable experience. The movie has its down points, but they are thin and varied and can be expected when tacking such a subject in a such a short time. In all it is not a good movie, it's a great movie, but remember take your box of Kleenex with you.

OMG, what a terrible movie! I could never imagine the great actor would have signed up to play this father/husband/grand father/retiree role, because the screenplay is so bad, so phony and the director of this movie, in my opinion, should be banned from directing any movie from 2003. Yes, that's how bad this movie is.

I just don't know how could this poor screenplay would be made into movie. From the very beginning, the loving husband and loving wife were so poorly acted and performed as a couple. All the scenes from the very beginning were just so overdone and so pretentious. All the characters, old or young, male or female, were just thoroughly ruined by this pathetic screenplay and the director. This is the first Bollywood movie that has made our watching a complete disgusting experience. It's more like a typical Korean TV drama, everybody had to murmur to herself or himself, with exaggerated gestures, expressions.

Amitabh Bachchan is one of the greatest Hindi actors, maybe the best of the bests, a Hindi Clark Gable + Gary Cooper + Marlon Brando, but...