Up until the early 1990s, mainstream Hindi cinema had developed a weird trend of casting young actors in parts of older characters. And not just older - old. While early examples (i.e Nargis in Mother India) could be great, this habit was getting greater and greater, and for commercial actors it was considered a validation of their talent. That's a little funny, because most such films were often terribly melodramatic, and along with the unconvincing physical transformation in terms of makeup and overall appearance, actually brought a reversed outcome, making the actors look like real caricatures. Now one such film is Avtaar, but unlike most films which have their stars play old versions of themselves, this film has Rajesh Khanna and Shabana Azmi playing their older versions for the majority of its runtime, quite an exception. As a film, we have a typical Hindi ultra-melodrama, with a done-to-death story of parents getting neglected, abandoned and maltreated by their ungrateful children. Despite everything, Avtaar is quite watchable, and the twist in the story, however cliched, is a welcome change for viewers.
The problem with Rajesh Khanna in this regard isn't that he plays the old character but actually that he plays the young character, which he looks too old for. In my opinion, Khanna wasn't a particularly good actor, but given the right material with the right directors (like Hrishikesh Mukherjee), he could do really well. I'm not sure Avtaar is an example of this, but he is really good within the melodramatic context of the film and the film definitely rests on his starry presence. Shabana Azmi balances it out with a wonderful performance. Those who have seen the kind of offbeat films she used to appear in and which she is best known for will find it almost amusing to watch her play the exaggerated sentimentality of the story and fit in the proceedings. Some of her lines are so stagy one wonders how she, or any actor for that matter, wasn't embarrassed to utter them with full conviction. But they do, and they understand what this film is. And I'm the last person to look down on sentiments that so many people can relate to and be moved by. Avtaar is actually enjoyable.
