Let us take you back to an era when Bollywood came out with some of the most original and qualitative cinema in its history. In this section “Old Is Gold” we’ll look back at the 50s to 70s era of Bollywood. I mean what could possibly be a better time than the lockdown period to enjoy these classics with your entire family! Well, our today’s pick is 70’s hilarious classic Chhoti Si Baat.
Film – Chhoti Si Baat (1976)
Duration – 1h 55m
Director – Basu Chatterjee
Main Cast – Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha, Ashok Kumar and Asrani
Rating – 4 / 5 (IMDB – 8.3)
For any classics fan, Chhoti Si Baat would be one of the first films which pops up on the mention of Amol Palekar. Oh, and obviously his magnum opus, Golmaal (1979). Chhoti Si Baat is one of the finest works of Basu Chatterjee and makes up for one of the funniest pieces of 70’s Bollywood. It is a subtle reminder to the new generation filmmakers, that your film doesn’t need to have a profane script or overdone performances, to send the audiences into fits of laughter.
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| (Image: © BR Films) |
The plot of the film is incredibly sweet and simple. Arun (Palekar) is somewhat of a pushover, who is too afraid to confess his feelings to the woman he loves. But when it seems like Prabha (Vidya Sinha) might slip away from his hands, he makes a few positive changes in his personality with the help of Col. Julius (Ashok Kumar). Now, Chhoti Si Baat is from an era, where Bollywood did kinda promote the idea of stalking women to get them. Arun might have been an innocent and harmless guy but most people out there aren’t. But apart from that aspect, the film is really adorable and light-hearted.
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| (Image: © BR Films) |
Though the script is quite hilarious in itself, much of the credit for making Chhoti Si Baat so uproarious goes to Ashok Kumar. His portrayal of Colonel Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh is so apt and funny, that literally everytime he is on screen, he leaves the audience laughing hysterically! Although he was introduced quite later on in the film, Kumar’s solid performance and a clever character writing, made Col. Julius an inseparable part of it.
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| (Image: © BR Films) |
Amol Palekar delivered a solid performance as the lead and handled both, pushover Arun and renewed Arun perfectly. Vidya Sinha and Asrani did the best they could with the part they were offered. Since, Nagesh (Asrani) was also chasing Prabha, he did have some memorable and hilarious moments, especially towards the end. Not to mention, Dharmendra and Hema Malini’s cameo as themselves was also quite fun, even if it was just for a song (Janeman Janeman Tere Do Nayan).
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| (Image: © BR Films) |
Talking about songs, well, I was a bit disappointed with the soundtrack as there were just 3 songs in totality. All of them were pretty average with my favorite from the album being “Naa Jaane Kyun”. So as far as music album is concerned, there is nothing much to relish here. There one other small thing about this film which wasn’t that appealing, that is, the editing. Even after being shot post 1975, the film had just mediocre clarity, color grading and editing, as compared to many other films during that time period.
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| (Image: © BR Films) |
But again, this film wasn’t about the technicalities and criticizing it for something like that would be foolish. Chhoti Si Baat teaches us some very important lessons regarding the need for self respect and self confidence in one’s life. Apart from that, the film has a strong moral compass and highlights how there is no scope for stuff like “David Abraham’s 3 Tricks”, where there’s true love. As opposed to it’s title and duration, Chhoti Si Baat actually talks about some very crucial matters and therefore, it becomes a classic worth revisiting!
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Very well written
Thanks a lot for being the most dedicated reader of my posts.
This movie is kinda overrated, not gonna lie. Cringy, to add
Well thanks a lot for reading and commenting! If I may ask, where did you find this article?
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