Bawarchi
Encyclopedia
Bawarchi is a 1972 Indian film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
starring Rajesh Khanna
and Jaya Badhuri with Asrani
, A.K. Hangal, Usha Kiran
and Durga Khote
in supporting roles.
In Mukherjee's classic style, the film contains no violence or obscenities, and focuses on spreading family values and morals through clean comedy.
(1966) by Tapan Sinha
.
The story is centered around the squabbling Sharma family, headed by their eccentric Daduji (Harindranath Chattopadhyay
), which has a dubious reputation the inability to retain a cook for more than a few months due to their ill treatment of their servants. The family's disrepute spreads to such an extent that no person wants to be employed as a cook in their home, ironically named Shanti Niwas (abode of peace).
Then one day a young man named Raghu (Rajesh Khanna
) offers to work as a cook, and is hired. Raghu, however, lives up to this challenge & becomes the apple of the eye for every resident of Shanti Niwas. He even defuses the internal squabbles & re-unites the family. But is Raghu's slate clean, or there is more to his character?
, who is the narrator here. He points out that Shanti Niwas is a pot of ironies: Even though its name means "Home of Peace", there is no peace here. The home, which houses the Sharma family, has members who hate each other for reasons unknown. Even a servant cannot withstand the Sharma's for more than a month.
After every month, the search for a new servant has to start. Then, suddenly a servant named Raghu comes in. Even though nobody remembers asking for some Raghu, they hire him. But Raghu has his own surprises in store for him. Gradually, the whole home comes to know that Raghu is not only an accompolished chef, but also a singer & expert in dancing.
Raghu tells his masters that he worked for reputed veterans of given fields, who taught him something or the other. Gradually, many aces start falling out of his sleeves, causing the Sharma's to develop an attraction to him. Even Daduji, the disgruntled patriarch of the family, develops love for Raghu. The family puts so much trust in Raghu that they even unwittingly show him the box containing the family jewels.
Krishna(Jaya Bhaduri) is the recluse daughter of Daduji's dead son & daughter-in-law. On learning this, Raghu tutors her & brings her talents to the fore. He also helps in clearing up the misunderstandings & calling truces between the family members. Daduji cannot help but think that Raghu is actually a saviour sent by god. Meanwhile, nobody notices that Raghu is suspiciously eyeing the jewel box the whole time.
Meanwhile, Raghu learns that Krishna loves a boy, but the Sharma's are strictly against the union of Krishna with him. The boy also loves Krishna, but is helpless before Krishna's relatives as well. Between all the tangle, Raghu suddenly disappears. The Sharma's are also aghast to know that the box is missing as well.
It does not take the Sharma's to put two & two together. At the same time, Krishna's love interest shows up. The people are already angered at the turn of events & the boys arrival, but they receive a shock when he shows them the jewelry box. He explains that he saw Raghu in a suspicious condition with the box. When he asked Raghu about the box, Raghu tried to run away. He tried to stop Raghu, even beat him up(the boy is a wrestler), but Raghu somehow managed to escape.
Stunned by this unexpected turn of events, the attitude of Sharma's towards the boy changes & they agree to get him married with Krishna out of gratitude. Krishna, however, refuses to buy the story. When Sharma's start abusing Raghu, Krishna's lover cannot take it anymore and tells them what really happened.
He tells them that he met Raghu at his own wrestling ground. He had a little friendly match with Raghu, where he suffered minor injuries from Raghu. He saw the box & asked Raghu about it. Raghu said that the box was the real reason he came there. Raghu told the boy that his real name was professor Raghunandan Verma, but he took the fake name of Raghu. He had seen many families like the Sharma's which were on the brink of breaking up & hence decided to use his knowledge to stop this.
Raghu explained him that if he lies about the box & what happened between him & Raghu, the boy will be able to marry Krishna. Raghu had promised the boy to secrecy, but latter couldn't stand up the abuse to Raghu. A stunned Sharma family has to accept that Raghu went out of his way to save several homes like Shanti Niwas. Krishna manages to stop Raghu in time from going somewhere else.
Raghu tells her that this is his life mission now & he has to go. Krishna requests him to stop until her marriage, as she regards him as her brother. Raghu obliges & leaves Shanti Niwas after her marriage. The film ends with a scene of him travelling to a new destination & narration from Amitabh Bachchan
that "Raghu is going to a new home. Let's hope it is not yours."
The movie was a hit. It was the 8th highest grossing film of the year
cast
Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Hrishikesh Mukherjee ) was a famous Indian film director known for a number of films, including Satyakam, Chupke Chupke, Anupama, Anand, Abhimaan, Guddi, Gol Maal, Aashirwad, Bawarchi, and Namak Haraam.Popularly known as Hrishi-da, he directed 42 films during his career spanning over four decades,...
starring Rajesh Khanna
Rajesh Khanna
Rajesh Khanna is an Indian actor of from Hindi films, and has been Hindi film producer and an Indian politician....
and Jaya Badhuri with Asrani
Asrani
Govardhan Asrani , popularly known simply as Asrani, is an actor in Indian films whose Bollywood career has spanned over 35 years. His wife Manju Bansal is an actress.-Early life:...
, A.K. Hangal, Usha Kiran
Usha Kiran
Usha Kiran was a Hindi and Marathi film actress. In a career spanning of over four decades she has acted in over 300 Hindi and Marathi films, notably Daag , Patita , Baadbaan , Chupke Chupke , Mili and Bawarchi...
and Durga Khote
Durga Khote
Durga Khote was an Indian actress, starting as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around 200 films and numerous theatre productions....
in supporting roles.
In Mukherjee's classic style, the film contains no violence or obscenities, and focuses on spreading family values and morals through clean comedy.
Synopsis
The movie is inspired by the Bengali Film Galpa Holeo SatyiGalpa Holeo Satyi
Galpa Holeo Satyi is a 1966 comedic Bengali film directed by Tapan Sinha. It stars Bhanu Bannerjee, Jogesh Chatterjee, Bharati Devi, Chaya Devi, Ajoy Ganguli, Rabi Ghosh, Rudraprasad Sengupta. Later the film was remade in Hindi as Bawarchi, starring Rajesh Khanna in the title role.-Plot:A new...
(1966) by Tapan Sinha
Tapan Sinha
Tapan Sinha , was a Indian film director. He was arguably the most uncompromising filmmaker outside the orbit of Parallel Cinema.-Personal life and background:...
.
The story is centered around the squabbling Sharma family, headed by their eccentric Daduji (Harindranath Chattopadhyay
Harindranath Chattopadhyay
Harindranath Chattopadhyay was an Indian English poet, an actor, and a member of the 1st Lok Sabha from Vijayawada constituency. He was the younger brother of Sarojini Naidu.-Life:...
), which has a dubious reputation the inability to retain a cook for more than a few months due to their ill treatment of their servants. The family's disrepute spreads to such an extent that no person wants to be employed as a cook in their home, ironically named Shanti Niwas (abode of peace).
Then one day a young man named Raghu (Rajesh Khanna
Rajesh Khanna
Rajesh Khanna is an Indian actor of from Hindi films, and has been Hindi film producer and an Indian politician....
) offers to work as a cook, and is hired. Raghu, however, lives up to this challenge & becomes the apple of the eye for every resident of Shanti Niwas. He even defuses the internal squabbles & re-unites the family. But is Raghu's slate clean, or there is more to his character?
Plot
The film starts by introduction of Shanti Niwas & its residents by Amitabh BachchanAmitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
, who is the narrator here. He points out that Shanti Niwas is a pot of ironies: Even though its name means "Home of Peace", there is no peace here. The home, which houses the Sharma family, has members who hate each other for reasons unknown. Even a servant cannot withstand the Sharma's for more than a month.
After every month, the search for a new servant has to start. Then, suddenly a servant named Raghu comes in. Even though nobody remembers asking for some Raghu, they hire him. But Raghu has his own surprises in store for him. Gradually, the whole home comes to know that Raghu is not only an accompolished chef, but also a singer & expert in dancing.
Raghu tells his masters that he worked for reputed veterans of given fields, who taught him something or the other. Gradually, many aces start falling out of his sleeves, causing the Sharma's to develop an attraction to him. Even Daduji, the disgruntled patriarch of the family, develops love for Raghu. The family puts so much trust in Raghu that they even unwittingly show him the box containing the family jewels.
Krishna(Jaya Bhaduri) is the recluse daughter of Daduji's dead son & daughter-in-law. On learning this, Raghu tutors her & brings her talents to the fore. He also helps in clearing up the misunderstandings & calling truces between the family members. Daduji cannot help but think that Raghu is actually a saviour sent by god. Meanwhile, nobody notices that Raghu is suspiciously eyeing the jewel box the whole time.
Meanwhile, Raghu learns that Krishna loves a boy, but the Sharma's are strictly against the union of Krishna with him. The boy also loves Krishna, but is helpless before Krishna's relatives as well. Between all the tangle, Raghu suddenly disappears. The Sharma's are also aghast to know that the box is missing as well.
It does not take the Sharma's to put two & two together. At the same time, Krishna's love interest shows up. The people are already angered at the turn of events & the boys arrival, but they receive a shock when he shows them the jewelry box. He explains that he saw Raghu in a suspicious condition with the box. When he asked Raghu about the box, Raghu tried to run away. He tried to stop Raghu, even beat him up(the boy is a wrestler), but Raghu somehow managed to escape.
Stunned by this unexpected turn of events, the attitude of Sharma's towards the boy changes & they agree to get him married with Krishna out of gratitude. Krishna, however, refuses to buy the story. When Sharma's start abusing Raghu, Krishna's lover cannot take it anymore and tells them what really happened.
He tells them that he met Raghu at his own wrestling ground. He had a little friendly match with Raghu, where he suffered minor injuries from Raghu. He saw the box & asked Raghu about it. Raghu said that the box was the real reason he came there. Raghu told the boy that his real name was professor Raghunandan Verma, but he took the fake name of Raghu. He had seen many families like the Sharma's which were on the brink of breaking up & hence decided to use his knowledge to stop this.
Raghu explained him that if he lies about the box & what happened between him & Raghu, the boy will be able to marry Krishna. Raghu had promised the boy to secrecy, but latter couldn't stand up the abuse to Raghu. A stunned Sharma family has to accept that Raghu went out of his way to save several homes like Shanti Niwas. Krishna manages to stop Raghu in time from going somewhere else.
Raghu tells her that this is his life mission now & he has to go. Krishna requests him to stop until her marriage, as she regards him as her brother. Raghu obliges & leaves Shanti Niwas after her marriage. The film ends with a scene of him travelling to a new destination & narration from Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
that "Raghu is going to a new home. Let's hope it is not yours."
The movie was a hit. It was the 8th highest grossing film of the year
cast
- Rajesh KhannaRajesh KhannaRajesh Khanna is an Indian actor of from Hindi films, and has been Hindi film producer and an Indian politician....
- Raghu (Bawarchi) - Jaya Bhaduri - Krishna Sharma
- Usha KiranUsha KiranUsha Kiran was a Hindi and Marathi film actress. In a career spanning of over four decades she has acted in over 300 Hindi and Marathi films, notably Daag , Patita , Baadbaan , Chupke Chupke , Mili and Bawarchi...
- Shobha Sharma (Choti maa) - Harindranath ChattopadhyayHarindranath ChattopadhyayHarindranath Chattopadhyay was an Indian English poet, an actor, and a member of the 1st Lok Sabha from Vijayawada constituency. He was the younger brother of Sarojini Naidu.-Life:...
- Shivnath Sharma (Daduji) - A. K. HangalA. K. HangalAvtar Kishan Hangal , popularly known as A. K. Hangal, is a well known Indian character actor in Hindi language films. His most notable roles are as the Inder Sen in Shaukeen, as Rahim Chacha in Sholay and as Ram Shastri in Aaina...
- Ramnath Sharma (Munna) - Durga KhoteDurga KhoteDurga Khote was an Indian actress, starting as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around 200 films and numerous theatre productions....
- Seeta Sharma (Badi maa) - AsraniAsraniGovardhan Asrani , popularly known simply as Asrani, is an actor in Indian films whose Bollywood career has spanned over 35 years. His wife Manju Bansal is an actress.-Early life:...
- Vishwanath Sharma (Babbu) - Kali Bannerjee - Kashinath Sharma
- PaintalPaintal (comedian)Kanwarjit Paintal, better known as Paintal, born in a Sikh family, started off as an Indian comic actor and moved on to teaching the art of acting. He has extensively worked not only in numerous movies but also television....
- Dance Master (Guruji) - Raju Shrestha - Pintoo Baba (as Master Raju)
- Amitabh Bachan - Narrator
Crew
- Director - Hrishikesh MukherjeeHrishikesh MukherjeeHrishikesh Mukherjee ) was a famous Indian film director known for a number of films, including Satyakam, Chupke Chupke, Anupama, Anand, Abhimaan, Guddi, Gol Maal, Aashirwad, Bawarchi, and Namak Haraam.Popularly known as Hrishi-da, he directed 42 films during his career spanning over four decades,...
- Story - Tapan SinhaTapan SinhaTapan Sinha , was a Indian film director. He was arguably the most uncompromising filmmaker outside the orbit of Parallel Cinema.-Personal life and background:...
- Screenplay - Hrishikesh MukherjeeHrishikesh MukherjeeHrishikesh Mukherjee ) was a famous Indian film director known for a number of films, including Satyakam, Chupke Chupke, Anupama, Anand, Abhimaan, Guddi, Gol Maal, Aashirwad, Bawarchi, and Namak Haraam.Popularly known as Hrishi-da, he directed 42 films during his career spanning over four decades,...
- Dialogue - Gulzar
- Editor - Das Dhaimade
- Producer - Hrishikesh MukherjeeHrishikesh MukherjeeHrishikesh Mukherjee ) was a famous Indian film director known for a number of films, including Satyakam, Chupke Chupke, Anupama, Anand, Abhimaan, Guddi, Gol Maal, Aashirwad, Bawarchi, and Namak Haraam.Popularly known as Hrishi-da, he directed 42 films during his career spanning over four decades,...
, N. C. Sippy, Romu N. Sippy - Cinematographer - Jaywant Pathare
- Art Director - Ajit Banerjee
- Animation - S. G. Naiksatam
- Choreographer - Gopi Krishna
- Music Director - Madan MohanMadan MohanMadan Mohan Kohli , better known as Madan Mohan, was a famed Bollywood film music director of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s...
- Lyricist - Kaifi AzmiKaifi AzmiKaifi Azmi was an Indian Urdu poet. He is considered to be one the greatest Urdu poets of 20th century. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jon Eliya and many others he participated in many memorable mushairas of 20th century.-Early life:...
- Playback Singers - Manna DeyManna DeyPrabodh Chandra Dey , better known by his nickname Manna Dey , is a playback singer in Bengali Assamese and Hindi films. Along with Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, he was a part of Indian film playback music from the 1950s to the 1970s. He has recorded more than 3500 songs over the course of...
, Kishore KumarKishore KumarKishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
, Lata MangeshkarLata MangeshkarLata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
, Harindranath ChattopadhyayHarindranath ChattopadhyayHarindranath Chattopadhyay was an Indian English poet, an actor, and a member of the 1st Lok Sabha from Vijayawada constituency. He was the younger brother of Sarojini Naidu.-Life:...
, Nirmala DeviNirmala DeviNirmala Devi aka Nirmala Arun was a Bengali Hindustani classical vocalist of the Patiala Gharana, in far northern India. She is the mother of Bollywood actor Govinda.-Personal Life:...
, Lakshmi ShankarLakshmi ShankarLakshmi Shankar is a Hindustani classical vocalist of the Patiala Gharana. She is known for her performances of khyal, thumri, and bhajans.Born in 1926, Lakshmi started her career in dancing...
, Kumari Faiyaz
Music
| Song Title | Singers | Time |
|---|---|---|
| "Bhor Aai Gaya Andhiyara" | Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Nirmala Devi, Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Lakshmi Shankar |
9:29 |
| "Kahe Kanha Karat Barjori" | Lakshmi Shankar | 3:53 |
| "Mast Pawan Dole Re" | Lata Mangeshkar | 4:52 |
| "More Naina Bahayen Neer" | Lata Mangeshkar | 5:03 |
| "Pahle Chori Phir Seenajori" | Kumari Faiyaz | 4:09 |
| "Tum Bin Jeevan" | Manna Dey | 5:33 |