Baghban (2003)

This movie truly shows the farce and hypocrisy of Indian society. What it tries to show you is only ONE side of the story. The other side of the story is the hidden emotional and mental abuse of Indian children which this movie does not show.

"Indian Parents" are culpable for the following: a. Destroying the individuality of the children by making them completely dependent on the parents at a very early age. Such children grow up to be Adults only in physical looks but remain children in minds. Since everything has been provided to them by their great Indian parents, They children automatically do not feel the need to work hard at something or learn the basics of human communication with other human beings apart from their parents.

B. I can show you so many Indian parents who try to prevent their kids making friends, going out or prevent them to do anything which starts making them to grow into adults.

The reason why they do is the same selfishness. Indian parents "expect" their children to take care of them when they grow old. They do no savings for themselves and once they reach the age of 50...They cry out LOUD......We have grown old now and so we are dependent on you children since we have done the GREAT SERVICE of bringing you to this world and taking care of you and making you intellectually weak.

Most of the Indian parents at the age of 50 have dilapidated bodies and health and are financially completely insecure. Most feel that they ABSOLUTELY have no need to take care of themselves since they "expect" their kids to take care of them.

In the west the opposite of that happens. People start planning at the age of 20 about their retirement and once they retire they are financially secure.

Indian parents do NOTHING of that sort since like I said they have brought the kids in the world and what better investment at that?.

I am a victim of my Indian parents (i am sure there are countless other Indian kids like me), who have grown up physically but are still struggling with their lives on THEIR OWN and they continue to have pestering 50 year olds who cry out loud for HELP all the time.

This movie shows only ONE side of the story.....UTTER piece of JUNK

Fmovies: Watching "Baghban" is the movie equivalent of trying to eat one's way out of a vat of saltwater taffy for nigh unto three hours. This Indian film is a sticky sweet, sentimental soap opera that starts off like "King Lear," moves on to "Romeo and Juliet" in the middle section, then heads back again to "King Lear" for its tear-soaked finale.

Raj Malhotra is a bank accountant who seems to have everything a man could possibly want out of life: a wife who adores him, a family who loves him, and a job from which he is about to retire after a lifetime of faithful service. Even though Raj and his wife, Pooja, have been married for 40 years and have four grown sons, they still act like a couple of love struck newlyweds, cooing and sighing, batting their eyes at one another and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears almost to the point of nausea. In fact, the whole bloody brood is so happy, loving and harmonious that they make the Von Trapps look like a dysfunctional family in comparison. The parents and children joke together, laugh together, even perform elaborately choreographed, "spontaneous" song-and-dance numbers together (like many Bollywood productions, "Baghban" is a drama interspersed with a great number - in this case, far too great a number - of musical sequences).

Anyone who knows anything at all about storytelling is aware that such unadulterated bliss can not be allowed to go unpunished for long, and that all that joy is merely the prelude to some awful catastrophe destined to come crashing down on the heads of our unsuspecting revelers. Knowing this, we spend the first hour of the film in fearful expectation, wondering just what form that disaster will take when it does finally arrive. The thunderclap occurs about an hour into the film, when Raj announces to his children that he and their mother have decided to move in with one of their families, leaving the choice of which one it will be up to the kids and their respective spouses. Suddenly, like King Lear discovering the vipers hidden in the familial bosom, Raj finds out that his children are not quite as loving, selfless and eager to share their homes and lives with their parents as he had originally thought. Understandably horrified at the prospect, the kids, in order to foil their parents' plan, come up with a scheme in which Raj will go live with one of their children, while Pooja will live with another; then they will switch off until, eventually, each of the children has had a chance to host both parents and then the cycle will repeat itself ad infinitum. Much to the chagrin of the kids, the parents accede to the plan, even though the two are deeply in love with one another and have never spent any time apart. Thus, the second and most of the third hour are spent with the two aging (albeit married) lovers pining away for one another, while their ungrateful, insensitive little brats do everything in their power to make their parents understand how unwelcome they are in their homes.

One of the major problems with "Baghban" is that it lacks subtlety in both its storytelling and direction. The love that Ray and Pooja feel for one another, as well as the almost giddy closeness of the family unit, is laid on so thickly in the first hour that the film almost collapses under the weight of the sentimentality. Then, virtually without any warning, the screenplay turns on a dime and converts the kids into callous, self-centered monsters and the parents into passive,

Last week I watched BAGHBAN and I found film based on truth. Sir Amitabh with his legendary performances has once again proved that he is the star of all the times and the legend of the new millenium. What should I say about Madam Hema Mailini, she really knows the magic how to grasp time in her hand and as time has passed she has really become more beautiful. Madam Hema Malini's performances were also fabulous. And about Salman Khan, this is the first film where I have liked his performances.

Baghban fmovies. What a great movie! I don't have to tell you that. Yes, the movie is somehow a little bit overdone, but the story is very new and refreshing. Two parents who have brought up 5 sons and at the end they only can depend on one, an adopted son.

I didn't like all of the sons as actors. The four men who came directly out of soap series, don't have it in them to play in a big Bollywood movie. They don't act confident although they try very hard. Even Salman Khan acted badly at the end of his speech for his father. What was he doing? Crying or something? I like him more in movies where he plays a mental patient like in Tere naam or Kyon ki? Not because I think Salman is a retard, but he is very great in such roles. The little boy who played the grandson was ridiculous to see. I have seen much better young actors of his age.

The whole movie was built on a big fundament called all together Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Paresh Rawal, Lillette Dubey and of course Sharat Saxena! Great songs, and well done dancing.

The end of Amitabh's speech where he thanks his wife is stolen directly from the movie A beautiful mind. A pity, but still Amitabh can make such a boring speech so interesting. Talking about boring, maybe one of the reporters in the movie has been sleeping when he asked: "If it would have been your own experience, what would you have done?" If he had listened to the speech he would have known that Baghban really was his life story.

this movie is very emotional....children should learn to give love for their parents and not separate them.

"Parents are not the ladders to children to grow up but are roots of children's success" these are small things which often neglected ...in the movie the children separate the parents and at the age where they need love they are denied...righteously they deserve the punishment...

Amitabh and Hema Malini excelled in their respective roles and emotions shown by them were able to bring tears in my eyes, especially when they are separated.

Baghban, should be shown to every child to let them know the value of parents.

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to agree with jungleking. He has told it like it is.

I'll admit there are a few movies that will make me ball out and this is one of them. This is movie is reality in its true colours.

Great performances by the whole cast and great work by the crew.

I believe that Baghban should be made into a book, but that is my view.

If you haven't seen Baghban, watch it as soon as possible. It is worth the time.