Cinema has evolved over generations and over a whole century now. Bollywood or the ‘Hindi’ film Industry has come across phases like the ‘60s, the ‘70s, the ‘80s, till today; each phase having its own charm, its own heroes and its own attractions. Be it the Era of the Disco Dancing where Mithun Chakrabathy ruled or the age of the intense Angry Young Man, be it the time of the king of romance or the phase which respects scripts, stories and screenplays more than its heroes. Bollywood has never failed to entertain the audiences and has also been successful to change along with the demanding time.
Talking about different “era’s” of the Hindi Industry there are also movies that mark the beginning of the new era and an ending of the old. There are always a few movies that are way ahead of their times. Do not mistake me here for a movie in 2008 about a love story in the year 2050, which really did not make any sense (Sorry for the bad joke) but about movies that were more “Unconventional”. Be it the very modern story of three friends figuring about their lives on and after a road trip, ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ in the romantic season of 2000’s or be it the beginning of the trend of very low budget movies with strong story lines and screenplays like ‘Udaan’, ‘Lunch Box’ or ‘Masaan’ kicking in. Even the start of the 100 Crore club including the names of big actors and directors that extended to 200, 300 and perhaps 500 Crore Club now was something that provided us with a lot of Entertainment.
I will talk about a time around the 90s, when new actors like Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh had pitched in and Mr Bachchan was at the peak of his career (Well, he still is at the peak only). A movie called Andaz Apna Apna, with writers like Rajkumar Santoshi and Dilip Shukla; former being responsible for the screenplay and direction as well. The movie wasn’t really understood by the people of its time. A comedy movie that mocks actors, movies, love, relationships and life was declared a Flop in the Box office just because the other movies in those times took these topics way more seriously. Though if you see those movies today, they aren’t less than a comedy movie either. Andaz Apna Apna, a movie with characters like – Amar and Prem played by young and skinny Aamir and Salman, two leads who are useless and are sure to make nothing out of their lives; Raveena Tandon and Karishma Kapoor keeping their own names and then confusing them towards the end, Paresh Rawal in a double role of a strict and ‘over’ punctual father (Ram Gopal Bajaj) and the villain Teja (Shyam Gopal Bajaj), the iconic comedians Mehmood and Jagdeep as frustrated fathers, Shakti Kapoor as Crime Master GOGO (apparently also the nephew of MOGAMBO), and my personal favourite ‘very smart’ Bhalla (or Tiger) and Robut. I might have made this very clear that the whole characterization of the movie never fails to amuse me no matter how many times I watch it.
This classic comedy of 1994 is on my list of one of the most watched movies of all times. The plot revolves around impressing a girl which becomes the motive of the lives of two young, useless and jobless boys Amar (Aamir) and Prem (Salman). Raveena (Raveena Tandon), is a rich girl who has come into town to find a groom with her friend Karishma (Karishma Kapoor). While her father (Paresh Rawal) is also helping the girls in the whole ‘Swayamwar’ thing, his evil twin, Teja, is making plans to take over all the possessions of his twin by killing his good brother or the daughter. He also plots Tiger (the boss), with a funny accent and Robut (that is how Tiger calls him) as the care takers of Raveena and Karishma. While, Crime Master Gogo (Shakti Kapoor) jumps into the movie with the pure intentions of stealing the diamonds that Ram Gopal Bajaj (Paresh Rawal) brings from London. He is successful to create the ruckus in the climax after kidnapping the girls and managing to gather the whole cast at one place. The witty and funny dialogues, imitations, over-acting, intentional-idiocy (which is contradictory to the ‘witty’ though), over-exaggeration, background music… everything adds up so well that you cannot hold your laughter even if you deliberately try to do so. The less appreciated movie of its time has managed to become and rightfully so, one of the classics of the Indian Cinema.
It shows that a few ideas might not be immediately accepted by the world. The best examples being a very famous Hindi Writer ‘Premchand’, who came to be recognised as one of the greatest writers after his death or the famous fantasy novel and movie series of the ‘Harry Potter’ written by J.K. Rowling, which was declined by many publishers. These life-instances, the ending of this movie, and also the late success and recognition of this movie by the audiences teaches us that one needs to keep faith and believe in oneself and also in one’s work in order to gain recognition and be successful!