Watching a regular Bollywood movie has become quite demanding lately. It demands time, money and patience. They sometimes question your ability to reason and most of the times they defy logic. It is quite some ask. I’m sure many of us feel the same. Anyways, I’m not here to sit and whine about bollywood’s masala potboilers. What is liberating is, in the vast expanse of these customary run-of-the-mill sagas you can expect to find some prized rational movies. One of those kind happens to be Sai Paranjpye’s Chashme Buddoor.
Chashme Buddoor is a light-hearted, cheerful romantic flick without being ridiculous and demonstrative, and I hope to keep my review the same.
The movie is based in Delhi in the early 80’s. It kicks off with the introduction of with three students, Siddharth Parasher (Farooque Shaikh), Jomo (Ravi Baswani) and Omi (Rakesh Bedi). Siddharth is an economics geek who is awaiting to pursue his Phd and shares an apartment with the other two. On a contrast, Jomo and Omi are easy-to-go, music loving, do-nothing idlers. Enters the new girl Neha (Deepti Naval) in their neighbourhood. After their personal misadventures with Neha, Jomo and Omi cook up a well-made fictious tale of romantic encounters with her.
Neha is a door to door marketing woman promoting a washing powder called
’’Chamko’’ who comes knocking on the bachelors’ apartment one day. Figuring out it is the same girl, Jomo and Omi semi draped, breeze out of the house leaving Siddharth to face Neha. Uneasy Siddharth is left all alone to encounter Neha. At the end of the ’’Chamko’’ demonstration, spooked and scared stiff Siddharth develops an infatuation and is equally reciprocated by Neha. Eventually, both of them start dating and love blossoms.
In love Siddharth undergoes a radical change of personality. Now fashionably clad, music loving Siddharth gets a job and quits smoking. Incidently his boss also happens to be Neha’s dad. Rubbernecking the metamorphosis in Siddharth’s life, Jomo and Omi steam up enviously and fabricate a phony story that Neha was the same girl who they had romantic encounters with. A distressed and heartbroken Siddharth withdraws himself from Neha. Towards the end of the movie, Neha’s granny, Jomo and Omi hatch a plan to get Siddharth and Neha together.
I thought the climax was a mockery of a regular Bollywood potboiler. Through out, Chashme Baddoor is a feel-good light-hearted movie. A big hand to Farooque and Deepti who carry out their roles with such ease. The cameos played by Ravi Baswani, Rakesh Bedi, Saeed Jaffery and Leela Mishra deserve accolades. Even the cameos hold some kind of significance in the movie. Music by Rajkamal is kinda soothing. I specially like the Yesudas number, ’’Kahan se Aaye Badra’’.
If you want to get away from a Johars’, Chopras’ or Barjatyas’ run-of-the-mill melodramatic overdoses of romance, try this movie out.