Chhoti Si Baat (translation: A Small Matter) is a 1976 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Basu Chatterjee. Considered one of the best Hindi comedy films of the 1970s, it is a nostalgic favourite for its quirky take on pre-hypercongestion Mumbai. The film became a box office hit and stars Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha, Ashok Kumar and Asrani in lead roles.[1] and also earned six Filmfare nominations and a Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay for Basu Chatterjee.[2] The film is a remake of the 1960 British film School for Scoundrels.[3]
| Chhoti Si Baat | |
|---|---|
 Film Poster | |
| Directed by | Basu Chatterjee |
| Written by | Sharad Joshi, Basu Chatterjee (dialogue) |
| Screenplay by | Basu Chatterjee |
| Produced by | B. R. Chopra |
| Starring | Amol Palekar Vidya Sinha Ashok Kumar Asrani |
| Cinematography | K. K. Mahajan |
| Edited by | V N Mayekar |
| Music by | Salil Chowdhury |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | B. R. Films |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
It also established Amol Palekar as having an uncommon comic talent for playing mousy characters, a role he would go on to repeat several times in his career. As with other Basu Chatterjee films, movie stars have small cameos playing themselves: Dharmendra and Hema Malini (whose mother Jaya Chakravarthy helped produce the film) are in a movie-within-a-movie for the song Janneman Janneman, while Amitabh Bachchan plays himself in another scene, where he seeks advice from Ashok Kumar's character. He is dressed in costume from Zameer, whose film poster is prominently displayed at the bus stop scenes in Chhoti Si Baat. B.R. Chopra is the producer for Zameer, just as he is for Chhoti Si Baat.
Plot
editChhoti Si Baat is a romantic comedy about a painfully shy young man named Arun Pradeep (Amol Palekar), who lacks self-confidence and fails to stand up for his convictions, in the process letting all and sundry walk all over him. He falls in love at first sight with Prabha Narayan (Vidya Sinha), whom he sees daily at a bus stop en route to work. Lacking enough courage and unsure if his feelings are reciprocated, Arun pines for her from afar and follows her around at a safe distance or so he believes. Prabha, completely aware of his affections, secretly relishes his discomfort, while waiting for him to make the first move. While Arun is hopelessly stuck, in comes the suave, brash Nagesh Shastri (Asrani), a colleague of Prabha, and emerges a serious rival for her attention. It does not help that Nagesh appears to be miles ahead of Arun in the "race" and is all that Arun is not; Nagesh is gregarious while Arun is shy, Nagesh is confident and boastful while Arun is besieged with self-doubt, Nagesh is smooth while Arun is awkward, Nagesh is street-smart while Arun's naïve, and Nagesh is assertive while Arun is timid. Besides this, Nagesh owns a scooter and ensures that he has opportunities to offer Prabha a ride, while Arun can only look on. A gullible Arun, trying to match Nagesh with a motorbike of his own, is conned into buying a dud, further embarrassing him in front of Prabha. Arun seeks salvation in astrology, tarot cards, and dubious godmen only to land with egg on his face. In desperation, Arun finally turns to Colonel Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh (Ashok Kumar) of Khandala, who has made it his mission to assist those in love find their true destiny. Colonel Singh agrees to help Arun and thus begins the turn-around as Colonel Singh begins to mould Arun into a mature, confident young man through meticulously designed lesson plans, peppered with philosophy and "hands-on" training. A "born-again" Arun returns to Mumbai with a distinguished swagger, brimming with newly-discovered self-esteem, ready to take on the world and win over Prabha.
Cast
edit- Amol Palekar as Arun Pradeep
- Vidya Sinha as Prabha Narayan
- Ashok Kumar as Colonel (retd.) Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh, (Electronics and Mechanical Engineers)
- Asrani as Nagesh Shastri
- Nandita Thakur as Deepa (Prabha's colleague)
- Rajendra Nath as Maunibaba
- C. S. Dubey as Gurnaam (garage owner)
- Komila Virk as Colonel Singh's assistant
- Manmohan as villain in " Jaaneman Jaaneman" song
- Dharmendra as Guest appearance in "Jaaneman Jaaneman" song
- Hema Malini as Guest appearance in "Jaaneman Jaaneman" song
- Amitabh Bachchan as Guest appearance
Soundtrack
editAll lyrics are written by Yogesh; all music is composed by Salil Chowdhury.
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jaaneman Jaaneman Tere Do Nayan" | K. J. Yesudas, Asha Bhosle | 5:11 |
| 2. | "Na Jaane Kyon Hota Hai Yeh Zindagi Ke Saath" | Lata Mangeshkar | 3:12 |
| 3. | "Yeh Din Kyaa Aaye" | Mukesh | 3:05 |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Filmfare Awards | Best Film | B. R. Chopra | Nominated | [2][4] |
| Best Director | Basu Chatterjee | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | Won | ||||
| Best Actor | Amol Palekar | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Ashok Kumar | Nominated | |||
| Best Performance in a Comic Role | Asrani | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ "Box Office 1975". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Filmfare awards nominees and winners" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ "Working it out – The Hindu BusinessLine".
- ^ "Best Screenplay Award". Filmfare Award Official Listings, Indiatimes. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
External links
edit- Chhoti Si Baat at IMDb
- Chhoti si baat detailed star cast and crew Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine