Baghban (2003)

Director:

Ravi Chopra

Writers:

Shafiq Ansari (screenplay)
Satish Bhatnagar (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 October 2003 (India)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Can you depend on your family?

Plot:

A tale of a of a family where the parents (Amitabh and Hema) sacrifice everything to nurture their four children, only to be left uncared for when they grow old.

Plot Keywords:

Adopted Son | Orphan | Writing | Valentine's Day | Generation Conflict

Awards:

2 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Amitabh Bachchan	...	Raj Malhotra
Hema Malini	...	Pooja Malhotra
Paresh Rawal	...	Hemant Patel
Lillete Dubey	...	Shanti Patel
Sharat Saxena	...	Ram Avtaar
Salman Khan	...	Alok Raj (Special Appearance)
Mahima Chaudhry	...	Arpita Raj (Special Appearance)
Aman Verma	...	Ajay Malhotra
Suman Ranganathan	...	Kiran Malhotra
Samir Soni	...	Sanjay Malhotra
Divya Dutta	...	Reena Malhotra
Saahil Chadha	...	Rohit Malhotra
Nasir Khan	...	Karan Malhotra
Rimi Sen	...	Payal Malhotra
Arzoo Govitrikar	...	Priya Malhotra

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hungary:14

Filming Locations:

India

Company:

B.R. Films

Trivia:

'B.R.Chopra' wanted to make the movie 30 years ago, the main idea of the story was born in his mind during a visit to Copenhagen.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Raj, who is finding it very heavy to carry his luggage when he enters his second son's house, carries the luggage with two hands. However, when he enters the house, he only carries it with one and then his grandson takes him to his bedroom but Raj has no problems carrying it with one hand.

Movie Connections:

References Avtaar (1983)

Soundtrack:

Holi Khele Raghuveera

an old story comes a time when it really has to be retold

Baghban - the first curiosity came with what the name rely meant. And the second curiosity was that could Hema still look so stunning!! The second one was yes she can!!! And as for the first one it came after watching the movie. I understood why its meant to mean the caretaker or Guardian. The movie is trying make a metaphoric relationship between an individual and their family and comparing it to a garden. Your family are like a garden, you have to slave over it and look after it for it to flourish and thrive, and any neglect will result in a weeded unattractive piece of earth. But the relationship that one has with their garden is very interactive - the gardener will put all their effort in trying to get a thriving garden and in turn the garden will reward the gardener with a sense of achievement, and fruits of labour.

This is the topic that Baghban is tackling - family life, and more specifically the life of the elderly. All their lives, our parents thrive the give us the best, to ensure all our wishes and dreams are achieved, to ensure that our lives are given more priority over theirs. But in this modern world what is excepted in return? Maybe the saying is true - nothing is free is this world - not even the love from your parents. Can we say that there is an expectation from our parents that we should look after them in their old age? Is it a sense of duty? NO - it is essence of humanity and gratitude that we should foster and love those that have loved us - and should not be obliged to do so but cause we want to do so. If we look around us there are so many children that have been abandoned, abused or neglected - so we should be grateful that we are not one of them and its are parents that are responsible for it.

The essence of this story has been integrated into Baghban with Amitabh and Hema being the head of the household. Both churning out wonderful performances. It was great to see Hema after such a long time and looking still fab as memory recollects from the 70's. Amitabh delivered a wonderful performance as a hurt, angry and confined old man, and its good to see such roles being written for him. The pair together brought a sense of love and comfort not seen onscreen for quite some time. Their four sons and their families give out appropriate performances and help to pull the movie along. Also the guest appearances are good and adequate. The show stealer has to be Paresh Rawal. Indirectly or intentionally the guest appearances and Paresh characters iterate the fact that friends you can choose, but family you can't - and in times of need it is your friends that stand by you and not your family.

The story has been told many a times before but maybe because it is made now at a time when such a message has to be iterated again, or it was the combination of direction and acting that made this a memorable experience. The movie has its down points, but they are thin and varied and can be expected when tacking such a subject in a such a short time. In all it is not a good movie, it's a great movie, but remember take your box of Kleenex with you.