Mere Baap Pehle Aap movie rating and review

Mere Baap Pehle Aap (2008) movie wallpapers :













Mere Baap Pehle Aap (2008) Movie Rating and Review :

Rating :

Acting – 7/10
Direction – 5/10
Screenplay – 5/10
Music – 2/10
Technique – 4/10

Review :

Akshaye steals the show

Who is Priyadarshan’s biggest enemy? Priyadarshan himself. How to take a perfectly entertaining first half and ruin it in the second — almost to the point of no return — is something that he has almost started to excel in. Take Bhagam Bhaag. Take Dhol. And now, take Mere Baap Pehle Aap. Promising so much (even more than its 30-second television promos) in the first few reels, the director’s latest venture works double time to erase all the fun and frolic that the first half had effortlessly achieved in the second. Well, almost.

Mere Baap Pehle Aap begins in the intensely chaotic trademark Priyadarshan fashion. Retired business magnate Paresh Rawal whiles away his time cooking and keeping house for son Akshaye Khanna. That is when he is not being reprimanded and given the disciplinary dose by his admonishing, authoritarian son. Reason? The father’s closeness to friend Om Puri — a sex starved, desperate-to-get-married 60-something — whose “not so cool” ways with women land the two in the stickiest of situations, including being arrested in an embarrassing fashion on no less than three occasions.

The hilarious exchanges between the father-son pair don’t allow the laughter to pause in the first hour, with the son rebuking, abusing and even threatening to walk out on the father, screaming “Bhagwan, kis manhoos ghadi mein aisa baap paida kiya tha?” in utter desperation. It is the endearing, if unconventional, father-son chemistry that elicits a smile on more than one occasion. The fun boat of mistaken identity, compromising positions and belly-laugh inducing one-liners sails merrily along till the time Akshaye and college friend Genelia decide to take it upon themselves to marry off Paresh to childhood sweetheart Shobana. Then, suddenly, we are left with an overdose of sentiment, sacrifice and saccharine-sweet situations — the plot borrowing generously from Cheeni Kum — till the film veers towards a typically Bollywood (no surprises there) all’s-well-that-ends-well resolution.

Akshaye Khanna is the real star of Mere Baap Pehle Aap. Here is an actor one sees so little of, but every time he makes his way to screens, one can’t help but be pleased by the outcome. Whether it is the intense Siddharth of Dil Chahta Hai, the menacing Karan of Humraaz or his Harilal Gandhi act in Gandhi My Father, Akshaye delivers every time. And Mere Baap Pehle Aap is no exception — revealing his ease with comedy in the first half and sticking to his guns even when things get a tad serious post interval. Paresh Rawal reserves his best for Priyadarshan and Mere Baap… hasn’t changed anything there. His scenes with Akshaye are the best in the film, where both actors give each other respectful space. His eagerness to get married to every woman he comes across means that Om Puri provides the maximum laughs in Mere Baap… and essays this role with characteristic ease. Too many unflattering close ups don’t do the award-winning actor justice.

Genelia D’Souza is the weakest link in the film. She tries too hard to be the next Preity Zinta, and ends up being simply annoying. And one wonders what prompted National Award winners like Shobana and Naseeruddin Shah to consent to such minuscule roles?

The music by Vidyasagar, save for the title track in the end, is pedestrian. On the other hard, Piyush Shah’s camerawork — especially in picturesque Kerala — is a sight for sore eyes.

So is Mere Baap Pehle Aap worth a watch? It is. Don’t go in expecting too much and you won’t be disappointed.

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