Chupke Chupke
Encyclopedia
Chupke Chupke is a 1975 Indian film
comedy starring Dharmendra
, Sharmila Tagore
, Amitabh Bachchan
, Jaya Bachchan
, Om Prakash
, Usha Kiran
, David
, Asrani
and Keshto Mukherjee
. The movie, a remake of the Bengali hit 'Chhaddobeshi', was directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
with music composed by S.D. Burman. The movie enjoys a cult status.
) is a botany professor who falls in love with Sulekha Chaturvedi (Sharmila Tagore
) during a women's college botany excursion. Prof. Parimal Tripathi helps the bungalow watchman to get to his village downhill to enable him to see his grandson who's fallen ill. Meanwhile he disguises himself as the bungalow watchman to protect the old man's job. Sulekha finds out one day about the cover-up and is charmed on seeing Parimal's real personality. They both get married. Parimal loves playing pranks and is the antithesis of regular professors. Sulekha, on the other hand is in awe of her jijaji (brother-in-law) Raghavendra (Om Prakash
). She considers her jijaji to be highly intellectual and looks upon him as her idol. Parimal develops an inferiority complex thanks to Sulekha's excessive praise of her jijaji and decides to prove that he is in no way a lesser mortal. Jijaji, meanwhile, has written a letter to Haripat bhaiyya (David Abraham Cheulkar
) asking him to send a driver who can speak good Hindi because his present driver James D'costa (Keshto Mukherjee
) uses improper grammar. This provides the perfect opportunity for Parimal to get to see and interact with jijaji. Parimal becomes Pyaremohan Ilahabadi, a motor-mouth driver who pretends to hate the English language and so speaks only Hindi. So begins the comedy of errors, as Parimal and Sulekha play prank after prank on the unsuspecting jijaji.
First they pretend that Sulekha is not happy with her new marriage, then they put across the impression that Sulekha is having an affair with Pyaremohan, and if that was not enough, they get Parimal’s long time friend Sukumar Sinha (Amitabh Bachchan
), a Professor of English literature, to temporarily act as Parimal and portray him as a serious and boring lecturer, the complete opposite of Parimal's character. Pyaremohan's excessively refined Hindi, his habit of correcting jijaji's usage of the language and his persistence in getting jijaji to teach him English all serve to irk jijaji to no end and provide for many laughs. Parimal's long-time friend P K Srivastava (Asrani
) is also party to the prank. His sister-in-law Vasudha (Jaya Bachchan
) suspects fake 'Parimal' - Sukumar Sinha - of infidelity to his wife 'Sulekha' when he tries to get close to her. Sukumar falls in love with Vasudha who at first believed he was Parimal, but Sukumar reveals to her the real drama behind all this mix-up of situations. Lata Srivastava (Lily Chakravarty), P K Srivastava's wife, is also angered over the latest 'extra marital' love affair. But toward the end, Sukumar and Vasudha end up marrying in a temple where Haripat bhaiyya coerces Pyaremohan to 'kill' himself so that Parimal could surface. Thus jijaji comes to comprehend the whole enactment, finally admitting that he was truly fooled. The film revolves around the resolution of these funny mishaps.
. Apart from these, Ram Balram
was the only other film that the two starred in together, if one does not count Dharmendra's guest appearances in Andha Kanoon
and Naseeb, and Amitabh's cameo in Guddi
and Dost
.
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
comedy starring Dharmendra
Dharmendra
Dharmendra Singh Deol |Punjab]]), better known as Dharmendra, is an award-winning Hindi film actor who has appeared in more than 247 Hindi-language films as of 2011. In 1997, he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Hindi cinema and also another Lifetime...
, Sharmila Tagore
Sharmila Tagore
Sharmila Tagore is an Indian film actress. She has won National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards for her performances.She has led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011...
, 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...
, Jaya Bachchan
Jaya Bachchan
Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan is an Indian actress and politician. She is an alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. Bachchan is the wife of Amitabh Bachchan, and is the mother of Shweta Bachchan-Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan...
, Om Prakash
Om Prakash
Om Prakash was an Indian character actor. He was born in Jammu as Om Prakash Chibber. He used to play the role of Kamla in the stage play by the famous Dewan Mandir Natak Samaj Koliwada. Starting his career in 1942, he was a popular supporting actor from the 1950s until the 1980s. He was one of...
, 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...
, David
David Abraham Cheulkar
David Abraham Cheulkar , popularly known as David, was a Jewish-Indian, Hindi film actor, who started his film career with 1941 film Naya Sansar and went on to act in over 110 films....
, 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:...
and Keshto Mukherjee
Keshto Mukherjee
Keshto Mukherjee was an Indian actor. He specialised in comic drunkard roles in the Hindi films. Though he was famous for his drunkard typecast role in Hindi films, he used to share a very good relation with the iconic Ritwik Ghatak and had very tiny but important roles in the maestro's films...
. The movie, a remake of the Bengali hit 'Chhaddobeshi', was directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
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,...
with music composed by S.D. Burman. The movie enjoys a cult status.
Plot
Professor Parimal Tripathi (DharmendraDharmendra
Dharmendra Singh Deol |Punjab]]), better known as Dharmendra, is an award-winning Hindi film actor who has appeared in more than 247 Hindi-language films as of 2011. In 1997, he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Hindi cinema and also another Lifetime...
) is a botany professor who falls in love with Sulekha Chaturvedi (Sharmila Tagore
Sharmila Tagore
Sharmila Tagore is an Indian film actress. She has won National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards for her performances.She has led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011...
) during a women's college botany excursion. Prof. Parimal Tripathi helps the bungalow watchman to get to his village downhill to enable him to see his grandson who's fallen ill. Meanwhile he disguises himself as the bungalow watchman to protect the old man's job. Sulekha finds out one day about the cover-up and is charmed on seeing Parimal's real personality. They both get married. Parimal loves playing pranks and is the antithesis of regular professors. Sulekha, on the other hand is in awe of her jijaji (brother-in-law) Raghavendra (Om Prakash
Om Prakash
Om Prakash was an Indian character actor. He was born in Jammu as Om Prakash Chibber. He used to play the role of Kamla in the stage play by the famous Dewan Mandir Natak Samaj Koliwada. Starting his career in 1942, he was a popular supporting actor from the 1950s until the 1980s. He was one of...
). She considers her jijaji to be highly intellectual and looks upon him as her idol. Parimal develops an inferiority complex thanks to Sulekha's excessive praise of her jijaji and decides to prove that he is in no way a lesser mortal. Jijaji, meanwhile, has written a letter to Haripat bhaiyya (David Abraham Cheulkar
David Abraham Cheulkar
David Abraham Cheulkar , popularly known as David, was a Jewish-Indian, Hindi film actor, who started his film career with 1941 film Naya Sansar and went on to act in over 110 films....
) asking him to send a driver who can speak good Hindi because his present driver James D'costa (Keshto Mukherjee
Keshto Mukherjee
Keshto Mukherjee was an Indian actor. He specialised in comic drunkard roles in the Hindi films. Though he was famous for his drunkard typecast role in Hindi films, he used to share a very good relation with the iconic Ritwik Ghatak and had very tiny but important roles in the maestro's films...
) uses improper grammar. This provides the perfect opportunity for Parimal to get to see and interact with jijaji. Parimal becomes Pyaremohan Ilahabadi, a motor-mouth driver who pretends to hate the English language and so speaks only Hindi. So begins the comedy of errors, as Parimal and Sulekha play prank after prank on the unsuspecting jijaji.
First they pretend that Sulekha is not happy with her new marriage, then they put across the impression that Sulekha is having an affair with Pyaremohan, and if that was not enough, they get Parimal’s long time friend Sukumar Sinha (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...
), a Professor of English literature, to temporarily act as Parimal and portray him as a serious and boring lecturer, the complete opposite of Parimal's character. Pyaremohan's excessively refined Hindi, his habit of correcting jijaji's usage of the language and his persistence in getting jijaji to teach him English all serve to irk jijaji to no end and provide for many laughs. Parimal's long-time friend P K Srivastava (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:...
) is also party to the prank. His sister-in-law Vasudha (Jaya Bachchan
Jaya Bachchan
Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan is an Indian actress and politician. She is an alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. Bachchan is the wife of Amitabh Bachchan, and is the mother of Shweta Bachchan-Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan...
) suspects fake 'Parimal' - Sukumar Sinha - of infidelity to his wife 'Sulekha' when he tries to get close to her. Sukumar falls in love with Vasudha who at first believed he was Parimal, but Sukumar reveals to her the real drama behind all this mix-up of situations. Lata Srivastava (Lily Chakravarty), P K Srivastava's wife, is also angered over the latest 'extra marital' love affair. But toward the end, Sukumar and Vasudha end up marrying in a temple where Haripat bhaiyya coerces Pyaremohan to 'kill' himself so that Parimal could surface. Thus jijaji comes to comprehend the whole enactment, finally admitting that he was truly fooled. The film revolves around the resolution of these funny mishaps.
Music
The music for the film was given by S. D. Burman, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi. The movie has the following songs:- Chupke Chupke Chal Ri Purvaiya
- Sa Re Ga Ma
- Abke Sajan Sawan Mein
- Baagonmein Kaise Ye Phol Khilte Hai
Degrees of separation
This film is one of two released in 1975 to cast Dharmendra and Amitabh together, the other being SholaySholay
Sholay is a 1975 Indian action-adventure film produced by G.P. Sippy and directed by his son Ramesh Sippy. It is considered among the greatest films in the history of Indian cinema. Released on 15 August 1975, it stars Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri and...
. Apart from these, Ram Balram
Ram Balram
Ram Balram is a 1980 Hindi-language film directed by Vijay Anand. It starred Dharmendra as 'Ram' and Amitabh Bachchan as 'Balram'. The other cast included Zeenat Aman and Rekha. Ajit, Amjad Khan and Prem Chopra were the villains in the film...
was the only other film that the two starred in together, if one does not count Dharmendra's guest appearances in Andha Kanoon
Andha Kanoon
Andha Kanoon is a 1983 Bollywood film directed by T. Rama Rao, starring Rajnikant, Hema Malini, and Reena Roy. Amitabh Bachchan has a special extended guest appearance....
and Naseeb, and Amitabh's cameo in Guddi
Guddi
Guddi is a 1971 film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and written by Gulzar. It starred Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Utpal Dutt. It is Jaya Bachchan 's career making film in which she plays a school girl obsessed with the actor Dharmendra, who plays himself. She earned a Filmfare nomination as...
and Dost
Dost
Dost is a 1974 Hindi film. Produced by Premji it was directed by Dulal Guha. The film stars Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Asit Sen and Rehman. The films music is by Laxmikant Pyarelal....
.
Trivia
- Jaya Bhaduri was pregnant during the making of the film. Most of her shots have been taken very carefully, as to avoid her profile view.
- Mohd. Rafi has one stanza less in the song 'Sa re ga ma', as he was not present during the dubbing session. Kishore Kumar, who was the other singer, sang the additional stanza.
- Hrishikesh Mukherjee wanted newcomers for the parts played by Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri.