Rang Birangi (1983)

Sparkling comedy about a meddling friend whose attempt to rekindle the spark in his friend's relationship with his wife of seven years leads to complications to their lives, and to the ... See full summary »

Director:

Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Writers:

Kamleshwar (story), Hrishikesh Mukherjee (screenplay),

Stars:

Amol Palekar, Parveen Babi, Farooq Shaikh

Cast

Cast overview:
Amol Palekar	...	Ajay Sharma
Parveen Babi	...	Nirmala Sharma (Neema)
Farooq Shaikh	...	Prof. Jeet Saxena (as Farooque Shaikh)
Deepti Naval	...	Anita Sood (as Dipti Naval)
Chhaya Devi	...	Mrs. Bannerjee (as Chhayadevi)
Utpal Dutt	...	Police Inspector Durendra Bhatavdekar
Deven Verma	...	Ravi Kapoor - Nirmala's brother (as Deven Varma)
Javed Khan	...	Seller Tickets in Kino
Moolchand	...	Actor
Poonam	...	Utmi - Neema's sister
Amol Sen	...	Havaldar
Raj Babbar	...	Himself
Bindiya Goswami	...	Herself
Om Prakash	...	Retired Judge Ajit Bannerjee

Storyline

Sparkling comedy about a meddling friend whose attempt to rekindle the spark in his friend's relationship with his wife of seven years leads to complications to their lives, and to the lives of his secretary and her boyfriend he has not 'scripted' ... Splendid performances by Amol Palekar, Deepti Naval, Parveen Babi and Farooq Shaikh, a perfectly pitched script, witty dialogue and a plethora of aptly placed film references make this a film one can watch over and over and never fail to laugh out loud.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

23 April 1983 (India)

Also Known As:

Colourful

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rajvi Pictures

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

References Insaf Ka Tarazu (1980)

User Reviews

Great 70s Humour

As I was scrounging around for a book to read in the weekend, I found some DVDs stacked in one corner of the cabinet. I had bought these on a whim at Crossword or Landmark, attracted by the bargains on offer – and conveniently forgotten about them. But with nothing to do in the weekends (and the missus slaving away at the office), I decided to use my time productively ...

Rang Birangi was the first movie I watched this weekend. And I couldn't help but pen down my thoughts about the movie. I normally do not write about movies that aren't playing at a multiplex near you, but then this isn't a review strictly. There is no rating at the end of it and I honestly wouldn't know how to rate such a movie. Plus I do not think old work like this should be critiqued – it should just be appreciated

But enough about myself – more about the movie

Rang Birangi was released in 1983, and was probably the last of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's iconic movies. I knew he had done a great amount of work but I was flabbergasted when I went through his actual body of work. Sample this

Anari (1959) Satyakam (1969) Guddi (1971) Anand (1971) Bawarchi (1972) Abhimaan (1973) Namak Haram(1973) Mili (1975) Chupke Chupke (1975) Golmaal (1979) Khoobsurat(1980) Naram Garam (1981) Rang Birangi (1983)

And many more in between ...

(And I have to confess I am in love with his Chupke Chupke. I can watch that movie again and again and again – and still laugh heartily every time Dharmendra fools Om Prakash)

Rang Birangi, in a way, is 'inspired' from his previous works. While the movie itself references B.R. Chopra's Pati Patni Aur Woh in the dialogues, the movie reminds you of the chaotic plots of Golmaal, Chupke Chupke and Gulzar's Angoor. Maybe it is because of the common actors – Deven Varma, Amol Palekar, Om Prakash & Utpal Dutt. And Bindiya Goswami is also there in a special appearance.

It starts off with Ajay (Amol Palekar) and Nimma (Parveen Babi) leading a peaceful but somewhat boring married life – where Ajay spends too much time at his office immersed in work. His secretary is the attractive Anita (Deepti Naval in very modern dresses), but Ajay doesn't even notice her, being the perfect gentleman. And Anita's boyfriend is Jeet (Farooq Shaikh), who is a professor and always a little suspicious of her boss's intentions.

Enter Ajay's friend Ravi (Deven Verma) who tries to bring the spark back in Ajay and Nimma's life by encouraging him to flirt with his secretary. And what starts as a simple flirting, snowballs into a majorly chaotic affair as Ravi keeps changing the script as events happen (like Dharmendra does in Chupke Chupke). Mention must be made of Utpal Dutt who makes his entry quite late into the movie. Though he doesn't have a very big role – but I had to mention him because of his character's name ! Say it aloud – "Dhurandar Bhatawadekar" !!! Rang Birangi works because of the wonderful acting by all the protagonists. Amol Palekar is especially comic in the role of poor guy caught up in events out of his control. And the script works because at any time, none of the characters (including Ravi) knows what exactly is happening – everyone knows only the partial truth.

For Rs. 45 (that's the price T-Series is selling the DVD for) it is an unbeatable bargain. Its lesser than the cost of one popcorn (if you watch movies in Mumbai multiplexes). So pick one up when you next goto a Crossword or MusicWorld - or rent it out from your nearby DVD wala if you already have a subscription. And enjoy some clean 70s humour.

I regularly write about movies at http://bisprad.blogspot.com