Bollywood is crazy. Bollywood can drive you crazy. It keeps oscillating between the sublime, entertaining, pedestrian and *bakwas* all the time. So, one can safely say that there HIT movies and there are(S)HIT movies that deserve to be hit.
But, *kintu*, *parantu*, the public does get confused at times. Movies that ought to be washed in the loo with a *lota* are sometimes elevated to cult status. Bollywood is full of examples where a ridiculous movie gets public acceptance and the result is that we are then served umpteen rehashed versions of the same crap.
My list of movies that deserved to be hit is as follows:
*Tiranga*
A solid misadventure by **Mehul Kumar** starring an overrated **Raj Kumar**, an over-the-top **Nana Patekar** and a without-the-top **Mamta Kulkarni**. Everything about this movie was so tacky – story, direction, performance, and music. But the *videshi* element(the *videshi* was played by some South Indian actor) seemed to strike a cord with the audience. The movie was a runaway hit. Something I still need to understand.
*Aaj Ka Arjun*
A 60-plus **Lata Mangeshkar** sings for a 40-plus **Jaya Pradha**(eeks) who prances with a 50-year old **Amitabh Bachchan**. The lyrics – *“Gori Hain Kalaiyan Tu Pehna De Mujhe Hari Hari Choodhiyan”*. Gosh!
Amitabh spends a good four years or so in prison. Before being framed by the good old Thakur, he was the quintessential *gaon ka buddha*, I mean *gaon ka gora* with *kurta*, *dhoti*, and *gamcha*. But once he’s released he’s always dressed in jackets, tight leather pants and dark goggles. Do they give all this in jail? **Amitabh** hams till he becomes a hamburger, **Jaya Pradha** cries like **Shah Rukh Khan**(I mean she cries all the time), **Amrish Puri** hollers so loudly that the director(who else but **KC Bokadia**) had to sing *vicks ki goli lo khich khich door karo* all the time.
*Tohfa*
Bollywood in the early 80’s was the pits.’Jumping Jack’ **Jeetendra** dominated the scene along with’Thundering Thighs’ **Sridevi**. **Tohfa** to me is one prime example of the ‘path-breaking movies’ that the duo costarred in. They danced amidst pots and pans to lyrics that went *“Tohfa Tohfa …. Laya … Laya”, * *“Ta Thaiyya Ta Thaiyya Huuuuu”*, * “Icream khaogi, picture chalogi”*. Add **Jaya Pradha**(not again) with a large dose of **Shakti Kapoor** and **Kadar Khan** as comic-villains and you have the highly successful **Tohfa formula**. What had gone wrong with the ticket-paying public those days?
*Chandni*
This one was a hit, undoubtedly but **Yash Chopra** deserved to be spanked for making it. A done to death love triangle with **Sridevi**, **Rishi Kapoor**, and **Vinod Khanna** in the lead roles, **Chandni** was the worst hit movie coming from the Yashraj camp. The only saving grace here was the mellifluous music by **Shiv-Hari**.
*Chalte Chalte*
A trite expose of a marriage gone wrong, **Chalte Chalte** was a half-baked effort by **Shahrukh Khan** and **Aziz Mirza**. Wonder what happened to **Raju** who said **“Yes Boss”**? **Shahrukh** hams it to the hilt while **Rani Mukherjee** looks obese and jaded.