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BizAsia Birthday Love: Family comedies by Mahesh Bhatt

20th September is the birthday of Mahesh Bhatt, a down to earth director who has never forgotten his roots. His films take the audiences on many strange and wonderful journeys. His life is an open book and he has never shied away from sharing his life experiences with the world. However not all of his films are serious and nor are they just for adults.

BizAsia will be sharing five of Bhatt�۪s films that the whole family would enjoy.

��Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin�۪ (1991)

Pooja Bhatt & Aamir Khan in 'Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin'
Pooja Bhatt & Aamir Khan in ‘Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin’

Pooja ��Dharamchand (Pooja Bhatt) is a rich, stubborn girl who has always got her own way. Her father is willing to fulfil her every wish except her choice to marry an actor who is only interested in their wealth.

Raghu Jetley (Aamir Khan) is an intelligent and honest man, journalism is what he does for a living and he�۪s very serious about it. While he is on the search for a story that will make his editor happy, he bumps into Pooja on the bus. She is trying to reach Bangalore without getting caught by the detectives her father has employed to bring her back home. Raghu decides to help Pooja get to Bangalore only if she is willing to help him with his story. At first she disagrees but when Raghu threatens to tell her father where she is, she is forced to reconsider.

After the bus breaks down they have to make their own way and along the way they face many trials from being kidnapped by goons, to dealing with the detectives Pooja�۪s father had sent. With time the two become friends and without knowing it they fall in love but not all is simple in the world of love. There are many hilarious situations in the film not to mention the soundtrack of the film which is still enjoyed by many today.

��Duplicate�۪ (1998)

'Duplicate' starring Shah Rukh Khan & Juhi Chawla
‘Duplicate’ starring Shah Rukh Khan & Juhi Chawla

The audience got to see not one but two Shah Rukh Khan�۪s in one film. One was a chef who just loved to cook and at the same time is a mama�۪s boy. He is a little clumsy but has a heart of gold something which makes Sonia (Juhi Chawala) like him. On the other hand Manu is a dangerous criminal who is constantly on the run from the police. He isn�۪t afraid of anyone or of the consequences he may have to face for his actions. He does however have a girlfriend named Lilly (Sonali Bendre) who is a dancer by profession.

Manu has escaped from prison and is trying to track down three of his business partners as they have his share of the money they had robbed. Manu tracks each of his partners and murders them one by one. While Manu escapes it is poor Bablu who ends up getting arrested by the police thinking that he is Manu. ��To stop this confusion he is given an identity card which is supposed to help both the police and Bablu from any further confusion.

One day when both men come face to face Manu decides to take advantage of their similarities and takes the identity of Bablu to commit further crimes. He easily enters Bablu�۪s work place and even persuades Sonia that he is Bablu. Rather than sit back and let Manu do as he pleases Bablu does the same and manages to convince Lilly and Manu�۪s accomplices that he is in fact their boss. It was a great comedy that gave everybody the chance to see Khan in a double role with two very different characters.

��Papa Kehte Hai�۪ (1996)

papa-kehta-hai

Mayuri Kango and Jugal Hansraj were the two new youngsters in this film. Although Hansraj had been acting in films since he was a child it was his first role as an adult. Sweety (Kango) lives with her mother and grandparents but ever since she was a child she has always wanted to know her father. Her grandfather hates the name of her father but Sweety wants to know more about her father other than his name.

She leaves for Seychelles as she believes her father is there. When she reaches the airport at Seychelles she is questioned by the officials about where she will be staying, she sees Rohit (Hansraj) with a board and points out that her father has sent him to pick her up. Rohit is puzzled as he was supposed to pick someone else up but Sweety lies saying that she has come instead of the person mentioned on the board.

She constantly lies to everyone around her to make things work for her. When a man named Anand (Anupam Kher) arrives at the hotel with his friend, the hotel�۪s manager tells him that his daughter is waiting for him in his room. He is shocked and denies that he has a daughter in fact he believes it isn�۪t possible. Sweety manages to sweet talk Anand and with time they begin to have a father and daughter relationship, not knowing that in fact they are related.

If that wasn�۪t complicated enough Rohit begins to fall in love with Sweety but when he finds out that she was just using him to help find her father he is heartbroken. Sweety realises that what she did was wrong and has actually fallen in love with him. Whether Rohit will forgive Sweety and more importantly does Sweety find out who her father is something that will keep the audience glued.

��Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan�۪ (1999)

yeh-hai-mumbai-meri-jaan

Saif Ali Khan played the lead role in this comedy film. Raju lives with his aunty and uncle away from the city. He tells them that he wants to go to Mumbai and work. At first his aunty doesn�۪t agree but then both his aunty and uncle have a change of heart and send him with their blessings. Educated to a degree level in accounting he lands up in Mumbai only to be disappointed. His car is stolen, his job has gone due to the business going bankrupt and he is short of money. Not giving up he goes to another office in the hope of finding a good job only to be offered a role of a peon. He turns it down at first but when he sees the beautiful Jasmin (Twinkle Khanna) he decides to take the job.

Raju�۪s boss Mr Malhotra seems to be having a lot of problems with his business, all of which is caused by his own brother who wants to take over the business. Mr Malhotra decides to ask David Rathod (Akshay Anand) who lives abroad to help him resolve the issues he is having. For some reason Rathod doesn�۪t arrive which makes Raju think it is his time to make a move. He knows he has the qualifications and the knowledge to help so he pretends to be Rathod and starts to help his boss.

Nobody recognises Raju because of his confident nature and of course his blue contact lenses. Jasmin even notices Raju and begins to like him however things aren�۪t all rosy when the real Rathod arrives. It is a great comedy with some wonderful songs like ��teri chahat ke deewane�۪ and the melodious ��mera chand mujhe aaya hai nazar�۪.

��Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke�۪ (1993)

hum-hain-rahi-pyar-ke

This family drama can be watched again and again but would never lose its appeal. Rahul�۪s (Aamir Khan) life changes drastically when his sister and brother in law pass away. He is then given the responsibility of bringing up their three mischievous children as well as taking care of their business. If things couldn�۪t get even more complicated a young woman from a well off background runs away from home as she doesn�۪t want to get married and ends up living in Rahul�۪s home. At first Rahul struggles to cope with the children and is angered by the fact a strange woman has been living in his house without his knowledge. However when he hears Vyjayanti�۪s (Juhi Chawala) story he decides to let her stay as long as she helps to take care of the children while he�۪s away at work. She agrees and with her help he begins to have a better relationship with the children.

Rahul and Vyjayanthi begin to like each other but are unable to be together due to her father wanting a boy who belongs to the same caste as them. Who can forget Dalip Tahil as Mr Bijlani who tries his level best to take over Rahul�۪s factory by any means possible. He even tries to blackmail Rahul into marrying his daughter Maya (Navneet Nishan) who is obsessed with Rahul. How Rahul overcomes this problem and whether he gets to marry Vyjayanthi is something to watch.

BizAsia��wishes Mahesh Bhatt a very happy birthday.