Eight times Bollywood was inspired by American sitcom ‘Friends’

‘F.R.I.E.N.D.S’, the early 90’s American television show, depicting the bond between six crazy friends who were always there for each other, casts a spell on almost everyone who watches it. The series lasted for 10 years and had a prolonging effect on every individual who joined the journey sooner or later. Bollywood directors took a note of it and tried their level best to slot in a few things in their work, from the classic. With its unending sarcasms and infinite jokes, ‘Friends’ had set a very strong fan base. The impeccable series had 10 unforgettable seasons and 236 episodes which are visibly etched in our minds. Here’s a sneak peek to the moments when Bollywood tried recreating it in different ways.

‘Rosita-The Recliner’ scene
One cannot forget the scene where Joey gets a set of Brown BarcaLoungers and introduces it to Chandler while they pounce upon it. The same scene was re-established in ‘Salaam Namaste’ (2005) when Saif Ali Khan pays a visit to Arshad Warsi new house and they jump into the two black couches. Yes, it takes us back to the scene were Joey named it ‘Rosita’.

Rachel’s delivery scene
The same film had a different reference to yet another episode of ‘Friends’. The one where Preity Zinta goes through the pain of delivering a baby and knocks Ali Khan down in the process is a renaissance of Rachel’s delivery scene. One still remembers the birth of Emma, where Rachel pushed so hard that she banged her head against Ross and knocked him down. Both the scenes made us laugh equally hard irrespective of its language barriers.

Ross’s sweaty leather pants scene
Vatsal Sheth and Sohail Khan starrer ‘Heroes’ (2008) had a prominent replication of one of the most iconic scene from ‘Friends’. Remember Ross’s New Year resolution to wear leather pants for a date, was portrayed in the film. Sheth finds it uncomfortable inside the pants and goes to the bathroom to seek for a remedy. Khan provides him with weird solutions that turn out to be a flop. We can’t stop laughing over the scene when Ross calls up Joey for help but when all of that goes in vain, he comes back home with the leather pants in his hands.

Ross Geller’s nerdy look
It’s not only the scenes that were remade, but bollywood was inspired with certain looks of our favorite ‘Friends’ characters. Akshay Kumar’s nerdy look in 2006’s ‘Jaan-E-Mann’ was encouraged from Ross’s look, right when he was in college.

Water splashing scene
Back in season 6 episode 10, when Joey wants to kiss Janine in the New Year party, but was obstructed by the tall guy. Taking advantage of the opportunity in the washroom, he splashes water on his pants. Isn’t that the same way how Salman Khan splashes water at Aman Verma in ‘Jaan-E-Mann’? Both the scenes had a similar built to strike a chord with the viewers.

The Phalange scene
The last episode of the end season where Rachel leaves for Paris, had a connection with the last part of ‘Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya’ (2005) when Sushmita Sen was about to depart. Phoebe calls Rachael and says that there’s something wrong with the flight’s left phalange. The same commotion is created in this film by Warsi. The word phalange was replaced with a mag wheel. Though both the scenes had a similar story to tell, we enjoyed watching both of them, equally.

‘The Routine’ scene
Where do you think the “Pappu can’t dance” step in ‘Jaane tu… Ya Jaane Na’ (2008) came from? Still wondering? Switch on the episode where Ross and Monica go to the New Year party and perform ‘The Routine’ in order to steal the limelight. You will find the resemblance.

Phoebe with Rachel’s assistant scene
Phoebe and her flirting skills have amused us every time. One famous scene was when phoebe meets Rachel’s assistant and gives away her number. Same was the case when Simone Singh gives her number out to Ali Khan in ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ (2003).

– By Ankita Ghosh