Hrishikesh Mukherjee is one of the filmmakers who made films which were simple yet lighthearted and entertaining, he had big stars in his films but mostly they played simpletons and normal characters and also were remembered as benchmarks in the actor's careers.
GUDDI was the film that introduced Jaya Bachchan to bollywood, that time known as Jaya Bhaduri. The film narrates her story, she is a child in school who loves films and is a big fan of Dharmendra. The film showcases her journey and how she is shown the true world of bollywood behind the scenes. The film also has Dharmendra playing himself for once, He is a superstar(as he was in early 70s) There is also a slight mention of Rajesh Khanna taking over his stardom(Dharam says it himself) which was true as early 70s was dominated by Rajesh Khanna till 1973. The film however mainly focuses on Guddi and her love for films and how she transforms, The film has the vintage touch of Mukherjee who does a great job keeping the film simple yet fun and entertaining and also educates without being preechy. The idea of Dharam agreeing to help Utpal Dutt may seem unbelievable but it works well with the context of the film. The first half showcases more on Guddi, her scenes at school are fun, there are few references to films and quips like when Guddi's classmate tells her we will go and watch Dilip Kumar's AZAAD she says it will be long and boring and prefers to watch Anupama(1966) again, the film shows a scene from the film and it's mentioned more then once. The film is full of fun in the first half, The scenes at her household are also nice, her interaction with her bhabhi, brother, father(who is a chess expert) and then her love interest are well handled, The second half focuses more on the filmy side with short appearances by a horde of actors mostly connected to Hrishida(who did films with him before and after) There show on the sets of Dharam's some film where he is worried about shooting a piano song sequence and then there are several pokes at bollywood. There is a scene of Parwana(1971) which perhaps was not taken from the outtakes but from the film itself it shows Amitabh shooting for the pre climax sequence of Parwana.Strangely Amitabh was supposed to play the lead but the director refused as he had become famous post ANAND perhaps.Amitabh also did a guest appearance in Hrishida's GOLMAAL where he was shooting for a sequence of Hrishida's own Jurmana There is a shot of Rajesh Khanna who forgets his lines during a simple dialogue, Shots of Vinod Khanna and Shatru shooting for a scene from MERE APNE and also Dlip Kumar. Other shots include Naveen Nischol, Biswajeet and others. All this provide a unique parody of Bollywood something unheard those days. There are several scenes showing that all that glitters on screen is not gold like Om Prakash mentions in one scene wherein the lightmen faints while shooting as he has fever. During one action scene by Duplicate of Pran and Dharam, the duplicate gets hurt while jumping from a chandeelier to a window and a comment is made that the scene will be cut from the film. Dharmendra takes Guddi to a burnt studio and narrates it's sad tale.Ashok Kumar after a shoot of a film(with 2 takes) tells that all credit goes to an actor for a film and people don't acknowledge the importance of work done by writer/director.There is also a funny scene where Pran gifts Dharam his watch and Jaya comments that he never does anything without a reason and then receives an answer that just because he plays a villain on screen doesn't mean he is a mean guy.The film doesn't get too melodramatic and maintains a tongue in cheek tone throughout with some dramatic and emotional scenes thrown in.Like the scene where Jaya's bf writes an article in his diary about the industry and the bitter truth and also Asrani's subplot of his dream of becoming a big star but ends up an extra The climax is predictable and filmy yet it works well. Direction is awesome, Hrishida is the self confessed bollywood fan and it showed in most of his films and here he does a fab job. The film was different for it's times and led to several films with Bollywood like it's backdrop Music is superb, Aaja Re and Humko Man ki Shakti are the best ones Dialogues are superb
Jaya Bachchan lives the role of Guddi and she is flawless. She is so true to her character that you relate to her perfectly Hrishida worked with her again in Bawarchi and Mili Dharmendra is full of life and entertains as he did in movies in 70s with his natural act. He worked again with Hrishi in Chupke Chupke. Samit Bhanja as Navin is adequate. Utpal Dutt is superb as always, while AK Hangal who featured in many films by Hrishida is natural in a small role Asrani is superb in a cameo, Sumita Sanyal as the bhabhi is good too
It's so strange that Hrishida's films worked many times without big stars and only his brand name Watch Guddi for it's innocence, entertainment and true story behind bollywood
GUDDI was the film that introduced Jaya Bachchan to bollywood, that time known as Jaya Bhaduri. The film narrates her story, she is a child in school who loves films and is a big fan of Dharmendra. The film showcases her journey and how she is shown the true world of bollywood behind the scenes. The film also has Dharmendra playing himself for once, He is a superstar(as he was in early 70s) There is also a slight mention of Rajesh Khanna taking over his stardom(Dharam says it himself) which was true as early 70s was dominated by Rajesh Khanna till 1973. The film however mainly focuses on Guddi and her love for films and how she transforms, The film has the vintage touch of Mukherjee who does a great job keeping the film simple yet fun and entertaining and also educates without being preechy. The idea of Dharam agreeing to help Utpal Dutt may seem unbelievable but it works well with the context of the film. The first half showcases more on Guddi, her scenes at school are fun, there are few references to films and quips like when Guddi's classmate tells her we will go and watch Dilip Kumar's AZAAD she says it will be long and boring and prefers to watch Anupama(1966) again, the film shows a scene from the film and it's mentioned more then once. The film is full of fun in the first half, The scenes at her household are also nice, her interaction with her bhabhi, brother, father(who is a chess expert) and then her love interest are well handled, The second half focuses more on the filmy side with short appearances by a horde of actors mostly connected to Hrishida(who did films with him before and after) There show on the sets of Dharam's some film where he is worried about shooting a piano song sequence and then there are several pokes at bollywood. There is a scene of Parwana(1971) which perhaps was not taken from the outtakes but from the film itself it shows Amitabh shooting for the pre climax sequence of Parwana.Strangely Amitabh was supposed to play the lead but the director refused as he had become famous post ANAND perhaps.Amitabh also did a guest appearance in Hrishida's GOLMAAL where he was shooting for a sequence of Hrishida's own Jurmana There is a shot of Rajesh Khanna who forgets his lines during a simple dialogue, Shots of Vinod Khanna and Shatru shooting for a scene from MERE APNE and also Dlip Kumar. Other shots include Naveen Nischol, Biswajeet and others. All this provide a unique parody of Bollywood something unheard those days. There are several scenes showing that all that glitters on screen is not gold like Om Prakash mentions in one scene wherein the lightmen faints while shooting as he has fever. During one action scene by Duplicate of Pran and Dharam, the duplicate gets hurt while jumping from a chandeelier to a window and a comment is made that the scene will be cut from the film. Dharmendra takes Guddi to a burnt studio and narrates it's sad tale.Ashok Kumar after a shoot of a film(with 2 takes) tells that all credit goes to an actor for a film and people don't acknowledge the importance of work done by writer/director.There is also a funny scene where Pran gifts Dharam his watch and Jaya comments that he never does anything without a reason and then receives an answer that just because he plays a villain on screen doesn't mean he is a mean guy.The film doesn't get too melodramatic and maintains a tongue in cheek tone throughout with some dramatic and emotional scenes thrown in.Like the scene where Jaya's bf writes an article in his diary about the industry and the bitter truth and also Asrani's subplot of his dream of becoming a big star but ends up an extra The climax is predictable and filmy yet it works well. Direction is awesome, Hrishida is the self confessed bollywood fan and it showed in most of his films and here he does a fab job. The film was different for it's times and led to several films with Bollywood like it's backdrop Music is superb, Aaja Re and Humko Man ki Shakti are the best ones Dialogues are superb
Jaya Bachchan lives the role of Guddi and she is flawless. She is so true to her character that you relate to her perfectly Hrishida worked with her again in Bawarchi and Mili Dharmendra is full of life and entertains as he did in movies in 70s with his natural act. He worked again with Hrishi in Chupke Chupke. Samit Bhanja as Navin is adequate. Utpal Dutt is superb as always, while AK Hangal who featured in many films by Hrishida is natural in a small role Asrani is superb in a cameo, Sumita Sanyal as the bhabhi is good too
It's so strange that Hrishida's films worked many times without big stars and only his brand name Watch Guddi for it's innocence, entertainment and true story behind bollywood