As a Bollywood movie lover, it is always an amazing experience to watch films that were made back in the 50s and 60s and remain fan favourites even today. As Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s multi-starrer Chupke Chupke completes fifty years, what better pick than the classic? But, is it truly a classic through the eyes of someone belonging to today’s generation?
Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Chupke Chupke, released on April 11, 1975, is regarded as one of the classics of Indian cinema. The comic film, despite being a remake of the 1971 Bengali film Chhadmabeshi, retains Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s style of storytelling, where he told Indian middle class stories with grace and humour. His films also stayed very much relevant to the times they were made and extremely politically aware.
Chupke Chupke, which was released just months before Indira Gandhi declaring Emergency in the country, showed the middle-class man’s frustration with the government, a dig at the 1970s salt crisis, as well as government’s decision of strengthening the nation’s agricultural sector. Very subtly, yet smartly, the film included the politics of the times (which you might easily miss if not aware of the history). While the film’s dialogues are very well-crafted, which we lack in most of the movies today (some even getting into controversies for its colloquial language), the plot somewhere starts to bore despite filmmaker’s attempt to keep it to-the-point.
Starring actors Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Om Prakash and Asrani in the lead roles, the film revolves around a Botany professor (played by Dharmendra), who is newly married, and pulls a prank on his brother-in-law (played by Om Prakash), who his wife (played by Sharmila Tagore) is duly impressed with. While the film surely makes you laugh, its langurous pace makes you feel like an old-world play. In an era where someone’s attention span is not more than seven seconds, the 130-minute-long movie with over-explained scenes seem a little too much to keep us hooked to the screen. Like when Dharmendra explains his plan of pranking his brother-in-law to his wife Sharmila and her brother played by David and when he actually pranks him, you already know the story, so their actions don’t create reactions in you.
Speaking about the actors, Dharmendra transforms just fine in the film from being a kind-hearted professor disguised as a quirky security guard to eventually a driver who is fluent in the Hindi language, however, it is Amitabh Bachchan whose entry adds a touch of freshness.
Playing the role of a English professor, who is forced to pretend to be a botany teacher, his scenes with his now wife then co-star Jaya Bahaduri add a little humour to a long prank that starts to bore. Amitabh Bachchan’s way of behaving nervously when unable to lie and eventually stammering makes you want to smile if not laugh. Another actor who possibly makes you laugh is Om Prakash with the unique tension in his voice.
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While it is nostalgic to watch saree-clad heroines with extremely thin eyebrows and fashionably tied buns, the film if made today might not have received the praises it did for its storyline fifty years ago.
Chupke Chupke might be a great film to study for its cinematic brilliance and staying true to its times in terms of screenplay, but might not age well when it comes to entertaining its audience, especially with low attention span.
