English Babu Desi Mem

Pravin Nischol's 'English Babu Desi Mem' has been labled as Shahrukh Khan's worst movies. I last saw it more than a decade ago and have recently revisited it. 'Worst film' is an 'over' exaggeration. If this is Khan's worst then what are 'Koyla', 'Trimurti', 'RaOne' and 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' (which are much worse in my opinion)? 'Engish Babu Desi Mem' certainly has its share of faults. The story's quite naive, sometimes even a bit silly and cheesy but on the other hand it doesn't pretend to be anything else.

An energetic Shahrukh Khan and sizzling Sonali Bendre make a terrific screen pair. Their chemistry is solid. Shahrukh had already established himself as a versatile actor and his scenes with Sonali and child actor Sunny Singh are some of the best moments of the film Sonali Bendre is outstanding. Not only did she show great potential as an actress back then but she also gets to display her versatile dancing skill. Child actor Sunny Singh does a good enough job. Saeed Jaffrey is also quite likable. All the actors seem to have played off each other and have had a good time filming.

The songs are enjoyable. The lyrics aren't anything particularly great but the melody's fine and it certainly has you tapping your feet or even humming. The visualization of the tracks is also well done and they are paced out well throughout the film.

On the technical side, I was positively surprised by the cinematography which is brilliant here. In the 90s, poor cinematography was quite abundant in Hindi films.

To me 'English Babu Desi Mem' is solid entertainment, with heart. It has all the ingredients of a successful masala (spicy) film and perhaps above all, it's sincere.

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English Babu Desi Mem combines many elements: romance, drama, comedy and music. At times choppy, it did fulfill those elements, though weakly at times. Both the conflict and romance between Vikram and Bijiriya (shabrukh Khan and ) could be felt, the chemistry was there. The love between Bijiriya and Nandu (Sunny Singh) was full of affection and devotion. I was quite taken with Sunny Singh's performance actually. There were serious elements in the movie, and they were portrayed sincerely. The poignancy is what I will remember most when I look back on this film. The comedy was goofy, but that was largely a result of zooming in on the characters'whenever they made exaggerated faces. I liked quite a bit of the songs/lyrics, and the dancing was well done, a credit to a good choreographer.

English businessman Vikram Mayur ( Shah Rukh Khan) learns that his deceased brother left a son, eight-year-old Nandu (Sunny Singh). Nandu has been raised in India by his young aunt, Bijuriya (Sonali Bendre), who supports them both by dancing in a club. Vikram goes to India to bring Nandu back with him, an event which leads to many emotional complications.

This movie was declared a flop at release, but it's really not bad. The plot is predictable, but at times quite moving. The acting from the leads was solid, but the child actors were fantastic. Young Sunny Singh gave a compelling performance and the actress who played the child Bijuriya was a natural. (Unfortunately, I've been unable to find who this child was for certain, but it may have been Baba Brahmbhatt.) Bijuriya's near-vulgar dance routines are particularly unappealing, however, giving the film a sleazy feel not compatable with the innocence of the rest of the movie. While English Babu Desi Mem is not a stand-out movie, it's mostly enjoyable, and the child actors make it worth watching once.

The general idea behind the movie is interesting. The movie itself was predictable. SRK was so funny at the beginning! The songs weren't that good; some were catchy, some weren't. The action scene left a lot to be desired by Western standards, but weren't that bad for a Hindi film. The ending was cute too.