Mere Baap Pehle Aap

Remake ustaad Priyadarshan once again brings up a comedy movie Mere Baap Pehle Aap, does not justify the promos in any way and is also at fault of dragging the film for two and a half hours. Initial first half is laughter ride but the second half takes you to a dramatic terrain, surely Priyan needs to do something more than this for sure.

It’s about a widower Janardhan Rane (Paresh Rawal) who spends his life in the upbringing of his sons Chirag (Manoj Joshi) and Gaurav (Akshaye Khanna). Now the sons take on the responsibility of managing business and household activities. But it is the younger Gaurav who takes care of his father as if he were his son, to the extent of shouting, fighting and locking the father up in room only to keep him away from his friend Madhav Mathur (Om Puri). Madhav is desperate to get married and seeks Janardhans help always, ending up into trouble, only to be bailed out by Gaurav time and again. Gaurav starts receiving calls from a girl Shikha (Genelia D’souza) who happens to be his old college friend whos back from the US and stays with her guardian Anuradha Joshi(Shobana). Janardhan happens to meet Anuradha only to recognize she is his lost love. Gaurav and Shikha get to know of it and are determined to get them married and in the process take a liking for each other.

Akshaye has developed the penchant for such roles and rendered the right poise. Paresh is at is usual best and the director surely knows how to use him. Genelia does leave her mark. But there is a gross under utilization of performers like Om Puri and Shobana knowing their caliber. Archana Puransingh is fantastic. Naseeruddin is effective in his cameo. Rajpal Yadav is yet another talent wasted out here. Manoj Joshi seems okay.

The music (Vidyasagar), editing and scripting are simply disappointing. The cinematography (Piyush Shah) is a worth mention. This is what we do not expect of Priyadarshan movie and is just enough to make you say “ Bas kar Baap Re Baap”