Bawarchi (1972)

Original title

बावर्ची

Directed by

Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Genre

drama film

Country

India

Runtime

2h 10m

Rated

U

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 25 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A chaotic middle-class household is transformed when a cheerful and mysterious man arrives to work as their cook. His unconventional methods and personality bring order and joy to the family's daily struggles.

lightheartedwarmwhimsicalgentlecomedicquirkyupbeatnostalgic

What happens

Bawarchi (translation: The Chef) is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language musical comedy drama film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and produced by Mukherjee himself along with N.C. Sippy and Romu N. Sippy. Released in India on 18th August 1972, the film stars an ensemble cast of Rajesh Khanna, Jaya Bhaduri, Asrani, Harindranath Chattopadhyay, A.K. Hangal, Asrani Durga Khote, Manisha, Kali Banerjee, Usha Kiran and Raju Shrestha. The film was ranked the eight highest-grossing film of the year 1972. In an interview, Khanna quoted "In Bawarchi, I did exactly the opposite of what Hrishida had made me do in Anand (1971). He allowed me to interpret the role and perform my way. I had done enough intense roles, and Bawarchi gave me the opportunity to interpret and perform the role the way I wanted. So I let myself go." Mukherjee's style here is typical, in that the film contains no violence, and focuses rather on "the milieu of the Indian middle-class who have larger-than-life foibles and whose major concern is to survive the day [...:] which bahu will cook, which brother will use the bathroom first, who will get up first to make the morning tea, [etc.]" Khanna won his second BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) for his performance in this film. The movie is a remake of the Bengali film Galpo Holeo Satti (1966) by Tapan Sinha. The film was remade in Tamil as Samayalkaaran with M. K. Muthu. It was remade twice in Kannada – first as Sakala Kala Vallabha, starring Shashikumar and second as No 73, Shanthi Nivasa, with Sudeep. It served as a great inspiration for the 1997 Hindi film Hero No. 1. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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