Baghban (2003) - Loving your parents (starring Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini)

Baghban released in the year 2003 and proved to be super hit. Audiences across the country loved the fact that Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini got to play their age and yet be the lead protagonists unlike other films where older characters are considered to be part of the supporting cast. The mature and mellow love story so effectively portrayed by the duo touched a chord with millions of viewers; while the topicality of the subject proved to be a crowd puller. After a long time, the production house of the illustrious B.R.Chopra delivered a good movie under the able guidance of Ravi Chopra.

Baghban tells the story of Raj Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan), his wife Pooja (Hema Malinig) and their four sons, Ajay (Aman Verma), Sanjay (Samir Soni), Rohit (Saahil Chadda), and Karan (Nasir Khan). Raj works for ICICI and he and his wife have provided their sons with a comfortable and happy life. The sons are now well settled in their respective careers and are married themselves with kids. Rimi Sen plays the eldest grand child, Payal. After his retirement the couple plan on spending the rest of their lives in house of each son. However they are in for a rude shock when their sons refuse to take on the responsibilities of their old parents.

Raj and Pooja’s children decide to split up the couple. They also decide that each brother will host one parent for six months and so on. Deeply saddened by the shocking attitude of their children the old couple who have not spent even a day apart from each other are force to face separation at an old age. The duo tries to adjust to this drastic change of life situations but find it impossible to live apart. Soon they bump into Alok (Salman Khan) an orphan boy whom Raj had looked after. He takes them home and gives them the love and care that their own sons had not. Raj decides to document and capture his life experience in a book titled ‘Baghban’. He publishes this book which becomes a runaway success. As soon as the sons and their wives come to know that Raj has earned a lot of money they flock back to him. However Raj and Pooja decide not to forgive their children and live on their own, thus sending out a strong message of hope and faith to all those elderly people who are scared to live on their own.

Amitabh Bachchan captures the soul of Raj beautifully. His portrayal is poignant and heart touching. Hema Malini still looks ravishing. Salman Khan’s cameo adds a wonderful spark. Aadesh Srivastav’s music is foot tapping and pleasant. Ravi Chopra does a marvellous job bringing to the fore, the plight of the elderly population.


CAST AND CREW

Directed by Ravi Chopra
Produced by B.R. Chopra
Written by Shafiq Ansari, Satish Bhatnagar, B.R. Chopra, Ram Govind, Achala Nagar
Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Paresh Rawal, Lillete Dubey, Sharat Saxena, Salman Khan
Music by Aadesh Shrivastav
Cinematography Barun Mukherjee