Chashme Buddoor

This is entirely charming. A simple and amusing romantic comedy story provides the structure for a lovely movie about the conventions, tropes, whatever you would like to call them, of the Bollywood movie (i.e. popular Hindi language movies made in Bombay). The story's fun on its own, but the real anticipatory pleasure has to do with getting the jokes and looking forward to the next one.

Two of three guys sharing a room in university days have their eye on a pretty neighbor girl - the third is too serious a student to bother. You can guess which one gets the girl.

Each of the first two makes a try at getting to know her by visiting her house on some ruse. Neither succeeds - one runs away, one is beaten up by her brother - but both tell tales of their success which are picturized entirely in Bollywod "love story" conventions:

• In the first guy's story, he takes her on a romantic boatride (singing, of course), which is filmed with every Hindi movie boy-girl-boat-on-river cliché you can think of, including flights of birds, light glistening on water, cows going for a dip -- and also a non-clichéd real bite, done by the pretty teeth of Deepti Naval - and the movie lets you see the actors having fun doing it. I wonder if it was even in the script - in any event it's "actually" sexual, and so not Bollywood-y at all! --

-In the second guy's story, which culminates in a filmi-style fight of hero and random guys, at least eight very very well-known film songs are picturized, among them the main song from Mughul-E-Azam, with our guy as Dilip Kumar (costume included), and Aap Jaise Koi, with Deepti in a delirious disco setting.

And when the true couple gets together in a park in Delhi, they comment that in a movie, they'd be singing and swinging around trees - and then they do, in a third supremely terrific loving parody song. Oh, and look out for the (real) trained bear.

The two jerk roommates wreck the relationship and then have to help their friend repair it, so they contrive a situation in which he can "rescue" her the way our heroes rescue their movie heroines.

Anyone who has ever lived with roommates and romanced an unassuming girl or, for that matter, a bespectacled bookworm would instantly claim this movie as his or her favorite. Not that the rest of the population can't enjoy it - from gangsters to musicians, to old grannies, to salesmen, to poets, to shopkeepers - everybody has something to take home from this movie.

Siddharth (Farooq Sheikh), Omi (Rakesh Bedi and Jomu (Ravi Baswani) are three Delhi University students who share an apartment and a permanent fixture on their countenance - their beloved cigarettes. Their personalities are reflected over their bed on their respective walls - Omi and Jomu wear their heart on their sleeves and have colorful cuttings of beautiful women. In contrast, Siddharth, an M. A. in economics, has photos of Gandhi and Vivekananda and doesn't take any interest in women. Their lives one day take a turn for the unexpected when Omi spots a beautiful girl in the neighborhood. Subsequently, both Omi and Jomu take their turn impressing the girl and her family, failing which they come back and paint a rosy picture to their roommates of all their good times. Ironically, the same girl Neha (Deepti Naval), turns up at their apartment as a saleswoman to sell her detergent powder. Omi and Jomu scramble to hide their faces, and it is up to Siddharth now to face his fear of talking to a woman. While he is only as right and bright as the clean towel that he hands over for her detergent demonstration, needless to say, both are smitten by each other, and their chemistry crackles on the screen.

Chashme Buddoor is not just funny because it has numerous gags, running jokes, and movie parodies - it works mainly because it takes the archetype, polishes it, and infuses it with likable and realistic characters of that of Omi and Jomu as sweet and likable loafers who address their girl chasing habit as "girl hunt," and Siddharth as a handsome but humorless geek - a quality that draws Neha to him and a fact totally lost on the other two friends, who in their envy and ignorance try to stop the spinning wheel of love. The look and feel of the movie, some may argue, looks dated. Still, compared to the natural performances, especially that of Saeed Jaffrey as Lalan Mian, it is like fussing over the old jewel box when what really matters is the box's content. Never before has a subplot in a movie been so enjoyable than that of Lalan Mian's continuous harassment of Omi and Jomu for not clearing their escalating tab of cigarettes. Their humorous banter, Lalan's indulgence in their girl hunt, and Omi's poetical deflections are a treat to watch.

Though a light romantic comedy at heart, Chashme Buddoor works on so many cinematic levels that its simplicity belies the heights it wants to achieve. On the one hand, it takes likable characters and spins a beautiful yarn around them and, on the other, makes little riffs on the film trends of the time, such as the clichéd boat ride against the background of the setting sun; singing in the park (that too in New Delhi - a city full of concupiscent people) with music coming out of nowhere, and onlookers basically making fun of the whole absurdity. On the same note, the ending is equally predictable but in spirits with any good Bollywood flick that never fails to titillate and tickle.

Sai Paranjape is one of my favourite directors. Her films always deal with situations and characters which one can easily identify with.

CB is the story of 3 bachelors. 2 of these (played by Rakesh Bedi and Ravi Baswani) spend most of their time chasing girls. The third one has a little different attitude in life and is more academically inclined.

The movie is absolutely hilarious. I liked it enough to buy a personal copy.

I'm amazed at the tepid review given by commenter Naam Gum Jayega to this film. The commenter does not know what he's talking about, and knows nothing about Delhi in the 80s. I grew up in Delhi in the 80s and this is wonderful nostalgic little trip back to those days of wide and empty streets, lush green springs, and a leisurely life style.

Faroque and Deepti share an incredible chemistry in the movie, and Rakesh Bedi, Ravi Baswani and Saeed Jaffrey provide able support to their characters. Those who knew Delhi Doordarshan from the 80s would recognize such Delhi theatre regulars as Vinod Nagpal and Keemti Anand doing bit roles.

A gem of a film that has simplicity rare to find in cinema these days.

It has a charm that is now seldom or rather not present. Look at that one scene in which the detergent Chamku is being sold. That one scene speaks volumes about how innocent and silly the ways to impress were. In a similar vein, this film has many moments that make us woo for it. The characters are affable, the dialogs are simple and the treatment is just down to earth.

Setup in an apartment are 3 friends who have to go through so many hurdles to pay their rent. A girl comes in their community and all the 3 try to woo here in their own ways. She decides who is the right one for her. All through the film, it's never boring or tiring on brain. You can simply have a smile and at times laugh out loud too. The best part indeed is that the film does not itself too seriously.

Sai Paranjpe was a brave woman director who was considered to be ahead of her times. She has extracted brilliant performances from brilliant actors. Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval set a precedent of brining common man stories into the film domain. They were simplistic and endearing. Chashme Baddoor stand the test of time and it is relevant even now. Most of the credit can be attributed to the writing of characters by Sai Paranjpe herself.

The characters of Omi, Jai, Siddharth and Lallan Miyan will stay etched in the memory after we have seen this. Lallan Miyan comes at few times only, but is witty and makes a mark for himself. Except Farooq, I remember others by their character names only. That's the impact this film had on me. Not to forget Neha superbly acted by Deepti Naval.

The cinematography may be age-old and simplistic, but it works. The editing is fine too, though some songs might have done away with but they add charm. Listen to Kahan Se Aaye Badra sung by Yesudas and it's wonderful.

I am going with 4/5 for this film.