Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Baaton Baaton Mein: A great movie to watch again

Baaton Baaton Mein is a light-hearted movie that you can really sit down and enjoy. It has some great music, with some very hummable songs (music by Rajesh Roshan) such as the title song - Baaton Baaton Mein (YouTube), Na Bole Tum, Uthe Sabke Kadam, Kahan Tak Yeh Man Ko (Raaga.com). It is a small-budget movie, but very delightful. The movie was made in 1979 by Basu Chaterjee, and starred Amol Palekar, Tina Munim, Asrani, David, Pearl Padamsee, Tun Tun and Mazhar Khan.
The story of a young Christian Boy and a young Christian girl in Bombay, it gets the boy, Tony Braganza (Amol Palekar) to see the girl, Nancy (Tina Munim looking really beautiful) in a Bombay local, and take a fancy to her. Her uncle Tom plays the introducer, and soon they are roaming around a bit, like good friends with a budding romance. He visits her house and meets with her family as well.
However, both of them are somewhat relationship phobic, in the sense that marriage is not talked about. She is getting over a past relationship, and soon she is ready for a relationship with Tony. Tony, however, does not seem ready. He does not talk about marriage (and her family is mystified at this - after all, if a couple is roaming around so much, they by now should be talking of marriage and getting the families together). His mother also thinks that he is too young, and overall, he is not seemingly ready for commitment.
However, like any good romantic story, there is a person who brings them together, in this case, in the shape of Henry (Mazhar Khan) who pines for Nancy and is ready to pop the question. At the last minute, Tony comes to his senses and is now ready for all commitments.
The movie does not have much of a masala, but there are many positive and endearing aspects to the movie. It is a simple straight movie, with a strong sense of romance, and coming of age. The music gives it a tremendous feeling, and the setting in a Christian milieu somehow seems very appropriate.

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