चशमे बद दूर
Sai Paranjpe's Chashme buddoor ("begone, evil eye") is perhaps as close to perfect as a film can be. It is a delicate romantic comedy peppered with affectionate parodies of filmi stereotypes, and there is nothing about it that is less than delightful.
Three bachelors share a one room apartment in Delhi. Omi (Rakesh Bedi) and Jai (Ravi Baswani) are a pair of slacker clowns fully devoted to their favorite activity: chasing girls. Their studious roommate Siddharth (Farooq Shaikh), in contrast, rarely raises his head from his books. He professes no interest in girls at all. One day Jai and Omi spy Neha (Deepti Naval), a pretty girl who has moved into the neighborhood. Each makes a play for her - unsuccessfully of course - and that seems to be the end of it. But soon Neha turns up at their door selling washing powder; she encounters Siddharth, and the two are instantly smitten. Their romance proceeds apace, and soon Siddharth gets himself an office job and starts thinking about marriage. His roommates, though, can't forget their wounded pride, and they can't bear to see him succeed where they have failed - so they can't resist throwing a monkey wrench into the works.
One of the charms of Chashme buddoor is its picture of simple student life in the city. The three young men live in a kind of equilibrium in their cramped home, each decorating the wall over his bed - Jai and Omi cover theirs with sexy pinups and clippings from film magazines, while Siddharth's wall sports only a dignified portrait of Gandhi - and, later, one of Neha. Outside the apartment, their principal social interaction is with an avuncular shopkeeper, Lalan (Saeed Jaffrey), who hassles them to settle the tab they've run up on cigarettes and magazines, but can't help indulging them in their romantic adventures. And although the boys represent broad archetypes - the horn-dog loafers, the humorless bookworm - they are nevertheless charmingly portrayed. It's irresistibly sweet, for example, that as clueless and bumbling as Jai and Omi are, Siddharth himself is only marginally less hapless. While it's clear from the opening scenes that he is the one who will get the girl, there is nothing slick about him. Both Farooq Shaikh's performance and Deepti Naval's as Neha share an unease, an uncertainty that is very charming, very natural, and very real.
Chashme buddoor is also just flat out funny. From running gags such as Jai's inability to start his moped (he stomps on the kick-start again and again to no avail, before Siddharth takes over and succeeds on his first try), to situational humor like Jai and Omi climbing out the window in a panic when Neha turns up at their door, the movie offers up one giggle after another. Even jokes that you can see coming are smartly executed and satisfying, and the film strikes just the right balance between clever, brainy humor, and goofy gags.
Finally, Chashme buddoor's riffs on filmi conventions add another layer to the fun. One of the songs, as Jai recounts a tall tale about his attempt to woo Neha, parodies a selection of famous film songs. In another, Neha and Siddharth spin poetry and romance in classic filmi style, only to be laughed at by onlookers for singing in the park. There's even a quickie guest appearance by Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha, demonstrating the workings of filmi romance. And the film's climax adds a distinctly masala touch to this sweet and wonderful film.