Mere Baap Pehle Aap

Having watched a lot of promos of this movie, I must say that I was not disappointed. A movie by Priyadarshan means that it would have some good comedy side to it and what more when one has Akshaye Khanna and Paresh Rawal.

Janardhan Wishvandhar is a widower who seems to have spent his life bringing up two children, Chirag and Gauarav. The latter is the one who decides to take care of his father and looks after him in such a way that at times he has to bail him out of prison for stripping in a Police station with his notorious friend, Madhav, to shouting at him and at times locking him up. Chirag in the meantime is totally henpecked husband. This all goes on until a girl decides to play pranks on Gaurav and Janardhan meets an ex - flame.

The movie stars Akshaye Khanna, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Genelia DeSouza and Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi and Naseerudin Shah in a special appearance and is directed by Priyadarshan.

This is perhaps one of the best movies that have been released this year - it has both comedy and emotional drama which at times is rare to find in a movie these days. Akshaye Khanna as usual is good as are Paresh Rawal and Om Puri as well as Genelia DeSouza. A couple of tunes are also decent to listen to (which makes a change) Conclusion: A film well worth watching.

What I liked about this film is that the comedy is grounded and not over the top and what really worked was the sweet chemistry between Akshaye and Paresh as father son duo.

The movie is far too long, and with no real legs (plot) to stand on, it straddles your mind like a colossal headache. There should be a law to bar Genelia from 'acting'. The film is riddled with clichéd situations and the plot itself meanders from one dead end to another. Songs are passable at the best, irritating most of the times. Characters played by Rajpal Yadav, Shobana and Naseerudin are an insult to these talented actors.

Dialogues are not as bad as the rest of the movie. In fact, at times they carry the movie forward. Akshay does a decent enough job, mainly due to his histrionic skills and direction from Priyadarshan.

Only saving grace is Paresh Rawal. As the elderly dad and then as the 'young' lad, he brings out his range of skills.

Is (was) this the death of Priyadarshan's comedy?

Priyadarshan's magic could not be found in this one. Not as hilarious as his previous ones were. Moreover, there were hardly any good jokes. Om Puri and Paresh Rawal were excellent and funny as usual. The first half was funny and all credits to the duo; but the latter half did the movie in. The Climax was poor. The locations and direction were upto the mark except for a slow moving script and needless songs. Akshay khanna was okay. Genelia D'souza, the actress we saw in Masti and some telugu movies was found to be hyper... don't know whether the role demanded such overacting or it was natural. Rajpal yadav in his short scene was very funny. Priyadarshan had unnecessary scenes, songs, etcetera and he was trying his level best to tie the scenes together. Overall, worth watching if someone offers the tickets or have no other things to do.

Priyadarshan always gives us a message, you just have to look for it and this film is no different. This is definitely a story that needs to be told. Paresh Rawal is so sincere in this role, and his portrayal of Janardhan is just heartfelt. Him and akshaye share a cute chemistry as father and son. The songs are hit and miss. The song filmed on akshaye-genelia is atrocious. Genelia is sweet in her role but noting to write home about. Om Puri is really good and his characters serves to enhance the story and underline what janardhan is experiencing. If you like movies where the parents and their struggle is highlightes (think Baghban) this might be for you.