Raja Babu

Raja Babu review :

"Aa ee oo oo oh. Mera dil naa todo".

Govinda's pelvic thrusts to this iconic song became so notorious that even reputed English magazines covered it lamenting the sad state of Bollywood. A few prudes may have cared but the Indian aam junta lapped up Raja Babu voraciously to make it a super hit at the ticket windows. The rural flavour worked even in the metros like Mumbai. And yup, Govinda was king then..

The 'Sarkailo Khatiya' item number was criticized for its vulgarity but that didnt stop the audience from cheering Karisma Kapoor and Govinda doing those raunchy steps on a desi bed. Personally, I loved this jodi and their onscreen chemistry was sizzling to the hilt. Even in actioners like Muqabla (1993) and Khuddar (1994).

Shakti Kapoor's career got a new lease of life playing the village bumpkin Nandu - Sabka Bandhu. He won the best comedian award that year. After Aankhen (1993), this was another super hit from Govinda - David Dhawan jodi.

Later, David Dhawan tried to repeat the same double entendrè formula in films like Andaz (1994), Eena Meena Deeka (1994) and Yaraana (1995) but unlike Raja Babu, these ventures were rejected by the audience. Even Govinda's Banarasi Babu (1997) with the same theme and a voluptuous Ramya in the main lead, came a cropper at the box office. Well, some formulae only work once!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.