David Dhawan: The Bollywood Hit Machine
I still remember when I first discovered David Dhawan, it was for Bol Radha Bol. This was when Juhi Chawala was in top form and Rishi Kapoor was still playing leading man. BRB was an ordinary masala film with Rishi Kapoor in double role and Juhi Chawala doing comedy in a “Gaon ki chhori” role, the song “Tut u tuu, tu tu taara” became bigger hit than the film.. The film had none of the qualities that would later define a DD film.
The first signs of a DD formula became visible when Shola and Shabnam came out. Those were college days and I had started to enjoy my new found freedom to go and watch every film that was releasing those days. But I still couldn’t bring myself to watch S&S. The poster with Govinda showing his pumped up body Sunny Deol style scared me (not pumped with iron but something else), even though the poster also had the pretty face of late Diva Bharati on it, it was kind of hidden behind Govinda’s large size posters, much in the same way as Congress hides Manmohan Singh behind Soniya Gandhi during election campaigns.
No write up on DD will ever be complete without Govinda in it and to some extent Karishma Kapoor. It’s hard to say who helped whom more. S&S was the second film Govinda did with DD, first one was Swarg, a remake of another Rajesh Khanna film Avtaar, starring who else but Rajesh Khanna in the lead. I still remember the song bum bum bum bum bombai, playing on Chitrahaar. I never got to watch Swarg, wasn’t lucky ( or unlucky ) enough to have freedom to watch every film in theater yet.
Govinda must have been the strangest conundrum that Hindi cinema ever encountered. He was supremely talented yet didn’t fit any of the leading man images in our cinema. He wasn’t handsome and chocolaty enough to play lover buy, wasn’t tall and rugged enough to play angry young man type roles and wasn’t quite intense enough (and interested enough) to play the art hero type roles. Govinda had every expression in the play book, but just didn’t look good playing them on screen, had every dance movement except grace and style, lesser dancers like Mithunda and Rishi Kapoor looked better dancing on screen than him. For most of the 80s, Govinda was happy to have just made it and kept doing every role that came his way. By early 90s, times had changed and Khans had arrived along with a whole new crop of directors and Hindi cinema had taken a turn fore better, relatively speaking. Govinda started to find it harder to get work. His now famous habit of coming late to work didn’t help. That’s when Govinda turned back to Pehlaaz Nihalani, the man who gave him his first break in Ilzaam. Pehlaaz promised him an image makeover as action hero and signed him up for S&S with DD as director. Govinda was looking to reengineer himself and in DD he found the man who would help him do just that. But the makeover that DD gave him wasn’t quite an action hero, but an entirely new character that only Govinda could play.
It was much later that I could get myself to watch S&S, such was the terror of Govinda by 1992 when S& S came out. We, in the audience, simply associated Govinda with C class films (even in those days when majority of the films being made were B and C class) and considered him a chawanni chhaap hero. Shola and Shabnam had a watchable first half with decent comedy but a terrible second half that just went on and on. But DD and Govinda got the recipe almost 90% right. This was a recipe they would perfect later and then offer it again and again and again with some minor tweaks with superb results on box office every time. The recipe had 3 major components – make Govinda play a happy go lucky, simpleton, almost loser type role (thereby taking away the issue of Govinda not being hero material) , mix lots of non-sensical comedy in first half with lots of non-sensical violence in second half, there you go, hit formula is ready. Everything else was secondary, the story, the music, side characters even though they kept repeating Kader Khan and even the heroine except may be in case of Karishma Kapoor who brought her own silliness and weird wardrobe sense and added to the appeal of the group. The recipe sounded simple and many others tried repeating it with and without Govinda, but nobody could achieve the perfect balance that DD did.
The DD and Govinda combo exploded with Aankhen in 1993, a year after Shola aur Shabnam. The film had everything that would later exemplify DD brand of cinema- Govinda in double role wearing bizarre costumes, Kader Khan (in double role), heroines that wouldn’t say no to any latka jhatkaas (exaggerated dance movements, couldn’t help the temptation to translate this one, English doesn’t quite do justice to it), violence and action in second half, and sadak chhaap songs that would be a hit with Pan shops and Auto-Rikshaw-walas. Yet, the film was a huge block buster enjoyed by masses as well as a great cross-section of classes that were dragged into theatres reluctantly to see how a film with Govinda in the lead could be totally enjoyable as they were hearing from word of mouth. Before we could realize it, Bollywood hit machine had roared off with a blast.
If 1993 was the year of Aankhen, 1994 belonged to Raja Babu. This was a film where when DD overplayed his hand and created unnecessary controversy with sarkailo khatiya and aa ee, oo oo. The songs turned off some of the base they had built, particularly families that by now had started going back to theatres. I personally didn’t like Raja Babu and the factors that turned me off was not the crass comedy (even though Shakti Kapoor’s kachha comedy was a bit too much) or even the songs but the family drama and weepy Aurna Irani and Kader Khan, who played a non-comedy role for a change. Govinda was the sole saving grace and was in top form displaying his on screen buffoonery. Sarkailo Khhatiya was only incidental and neither helped the film not harm it, it was just one of these inane David Dhawan songs that just crossed the line.
By then Karishma Kapoor had joined the duo and all three of them combined to deliver 5 big hits – Raja Babu, Coolie No. 1, Hero No. 1, Saajan Chale Sasural, and Haseena Maan Jayegi. Karishma matched Govinda with every crazy dance step and even crazier costumes and the audience instead of avoiding Govinda movies, we started to eagerly wait for his next one, particularly if it was with KK and DD was the director. Coolie No. 1 was a laugh riot. You knew everything about the film was bad, storyline non-existing, production values less than par, costumes bizarre, music was catchy yet nothing more than a parody of some hit Bhojpuri songs, everybody overacted particularly the lead pair of Govinda and Karishma Kapoor, yet the film worked. Love him or hate him, the magic of David Dhawan worked big time. I thoroughly enjoyed Coolie No. 1 and loved Govinda. His act of playing two characters in one role was out and out hilarious. I have never seen anyone use his voice, facial expressions and dialogue delivery to such crazy effect except may be Kishore Kumar in Half Ticket. The song “Main to raste se jar aha tha” couldn’t be any simpler and catchier. Govinda even tried delivering a message to his detractors from “Sarkailo Khatiya” days by singing whole lines about why he is out there just to entertain people and he at least doesn’t kill people by throwing them from the roof top- a reference to SRK in Baazigar. Govinda by then had fully embraced this new screen image and therein lies the magic and the tragedy of Govinda. Some people thought he finally got his due, others thought this showed what he was capable of and wished he would get his due some day.
Saajan Chale Sasural just carried the formula forward and the situations arising because of Govinda leading a double life with two wives were just too damn good. Tabu matched KK in overacting and playing silly. Satish Kaushik (my favorite comedian) was in top form, playing the side kick to Govinda and I still laugh at just recalling the scenes and the dialogues. Tabu and KK sensing that their husband might be a single person uttering on phone – “Bahan bhagwan kare ki do do maa ayen” anticipating the arrival of Govinda’s mom from village or the hotel song where Govinda is staying for honeymoon with both his wives. Man, was it crazy stuff? Call him whatever, but you would have to agree David Dhawan was the master magician pulling these tricks one after the other with spectacular results.
It’s hard to say who helped whom. Govinda tried repeating the formula with other directors, most of the time without success. David Dhawan on the other hand did create hits with other actors – most notably with Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Anil Kapoor and to a lesser extent Sanjay Dutt, even though you could question whether these films belonged in the same league as his films with Govinda and Karishma Kapoor. I did enjoy Judwaa with Salman Khan and thoroughly enjoyed Deewana Mastana with Govinda and Anil Kapoor. D-M had lots of memorable moments and characters – Anil Kapoor as small town gunda and Johny Lever as his side kick, Satish Kaushik in a small but memorable role of Pappu Pager, the bravado talking Bhai and of course Govinda in a role, that was a copy of Bill Murray’s role in “What about Bob” but played by Govinda in his own unique style.
By 2000-2001, the David Dhawan hit machine started losing steam. He ran out of new crazy situations, new crazy dialogues, and also the industry around him changed. Another generation of new faces had arrived; fashion designers became part of every film, making the crazy costumes in DD film look cheap and retarded instead of comical. Even Karishma Kapoor refused to work with Govinda and David Dhawan, wanting to build on her success in Raja Hindustani. When KK did return for Hero No. 1 and Haseena Man Jayegi, she was not the same old silly acting, crazy looking KK but a new refined Manish Malhotra wearing heroine who considered herself a class above DD-Govinda. After a decade of almost non-stop success, David Dhawan delivered flops left right and center. Nothing worked, not even his pairing with Govinda for “Kyunki Main Jhooth Nahin Bolta”, a copy of Liar-Liar. (The only thing funny about this film was title which was probably created to cash in on the popularity of a famous saas bahu serial.)
David Dhawan, the hit machine quickly re-adjusted himself, worked on improving production values, hired a dress designers and got back to delivering hits again with Mujhse Shadi Karoge, Maine Pyar Kyu Kiya and Partner. This DD 2.0 is probably more in tune with the times, but for me, I never quite liked the change and missed the siliness of his no. 1 films.
I watched DD on TV as the judge of Nach Baliye recently. He comes across as this roly poly character that is just having fun in the world and is comfortable in his own skin. DD never pretended that he makes class or hatke cinema and never seemed to pine for awards or recognition, just box office success. Unlike other successful directors who start pining for respect and want to build quality cinema after delivering few hits, DD never seems to have that calling. He seems happy being his roly poly self. His idol was Manmohan Desai and his objective in life, to entertain the masses and deliver big hits on box office.
I am not sure how David Dhawan would like to be remembered, I hope he is remembered as the funnier and sunnier side of the torture cinema of 80s and 90s or simply as Bollywood Hit machine for delivering more hits than probably any other director.
PS: IMDB shows DD was active as a writer and editor since 1980, credited as an editor for about 29 films. DD has so far directed 38 films, with about 20 of them being big hits. I don’t remember any other director delivering so many box office hits in the history of Hindi cinema.
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very good analysis…..nice article, A. Singh!
After watching a few interviews of David Dhawan..i got a feeling that DD has the same sense of humor that Govinda projects in his movies. I believe Govinda became a mouthpiece and a face to DD’s sense of humor.
They both are a laugh riot when together..From what i know of DD he is a very simple person without any pretentions or airs…hasnt he given the most number of hits as a director in Hindi cinema?
Ohh btw his off-track comedy has some roots from a telugu director S.V.Krishna Reddy, i feel.
Well written piece, but I have a few quibbles:
1. Govinda is an excellent dancer. The sheer joie de vivre that he brings into his dancing, the fluidity is something that I’ve seen in only one other Hindi film dancer – Bhagwan Dada.
2. He didn’t play loser characters. He plays characters who may be down and out, without money, education or connections, but they have a chutzpah, irreverence and cool which is a very rare quality. To be honest, Govinda didn’t come up with this on his own. It partly came from the Tamil films that were being remade into Hindi by David Dhawan and partly borrowed from Umer Sharif, the Pakistani comedian.
a post on david dhawan and no mention about his gold medal for editing from pune film institute
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no mention of his previous directorial movies like ‘gola barood’ and ‘aandhiyan’ which was supposed to be comeback vehicle of mumtaz. the movie had shatrughan sinha and prasenjeet; seemed like a role-reversal of the movie ‘aandhi’ where shatru went away from his wife to further his political career.
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no mention of his foray into films bcos of his elder borther anil dhawan
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and ofcourse, no mention of his movies that make us puke…like eena meena deeka, andaz, yarana, banarsi babu, gharwali baharwali, kunwara, hum kissi se kum nahi … oh god! the list is long.
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his success rate was 50% and his success was well timed, just when the nation was in mood for some laughs. and he got away with a lot worse. nevertheless, i give it to the man for his talent
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i just wonder how a gold medalist in editing churned out such stuff, or sold himself to commercial cinema…must have been a conscience call to inject crude humor in the society. hats off to DD …
I disagree with the the point that Govinda lacked grace and style in dance. He is one of the best dancers in the Film Industry.
As for David Dhawan, he is the only Director who came close to Manmohan Desai in making entertainers and giving super hits. Many others like Kawal Sharma, Manmohan Desai’s own son Ketan Desai could not copy MDs style and deliver hits. No matter what everyone says DD continues to produce masala entertainers and give hits. You have to give him credit for that. If it was so easy to make entertainers and give hits then wouldn’t every Director be making such films and rake in the moolah.
@crazyrals
“must have been a conscience call to inject crude humor in the society”
What are u talking about yaar!!! do u think he makes films keeping in mind US as the audience… There is a much larger audience outside US, which u fail to acknowledge… Do u know whose reaction he waits for when his new pickchur release? There is a small township in Bihar, where thousands of mill workers live and earn. There is a 7am show every Friday… DD specially calls up the theatre owner there and asks for reactions…. This is DD yaar…. His will and want to appeal to the lowest common denominator is awesome…. Answer a basic question… whom do you think requires entertainment the most, the workers who toil hard through the day or us, the people who spend their valuable part of their minimal livelihood in theatres or the urban audience who prefer to watch films on DVD…
I bet my life, DD must be one of the most satisfied souls on earth… He entertains the masses and takes that quite seriously, without any pretensions… If you see any of his films, there is a story (most of the times inspired :P) and most of the comedy is situational. Whenever I watch his films, I can almost sense his superb sense of humor, and his superb improvisation on sets…. He is one helluva talented guy…
He ain’t an intellectual on a trip, he loves films as an entertainment medium and he uses it to great effects..
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Crude comedy????? kya baat kar rahe ho???
Nice article… S&S was Govinda and DD’s 3rd movie together…they had first worked in taaqatwar which also starred Sanjay dutt….
@Ashwin
I second u… Govinda lacks style and grace?? No way man!! He is a livewire and his style (with those super goofy expressions) is unparalled… We can see the sheer enjoyment in his face, which carries through the audience too… Govinda is the best dancer in our hindi films… None can match just his sheer energy… Hritik Roshan can get the difficult moves right, but he cant get his soul in it, and it shows..u know!!! if anyone still has doubts, watch Ankhiyon se goli maare song from Dulhe raja or the bollywood homage song from Hero no1 “saaton janam tumko paake…” GOvinda is a gem!!!
No body can match Govinda’s funny face expressions, only he can do that and we like it also. DD was best in deewana-mastana, which was released along with Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi (both directed by DD), dewaana-mastana was a lough riot.. aaeee tum log ghabrana ka nahi samjha kyaa.. pappu pager ko pehli baar koi aadmi bhari padela hai… kuch sochna padega…
those one lines in dd films are too good like :
abe o mattar ke aakhri daane…
chipkali ke sade hue ande…
kouve ke jale hue pankh…
there is a big list of these one lines in DD films and there can be a good research paper on these one lines…
@A Singh – Very nice article…and well researched and analysed. DD-Govinda combo is among few which have given consicutive hits (oops super duper hits). Looking for some more such posts from you.
@Gaurang – I completely aggre with you. Govinda is unmatchable and no one can come close to his dancing specially his expressions. His comic timing is awesome. I have watched Dulhe Raja over 50 times..and every time i laughed my pants off…he is a true gem. And somehow i feel that it was DD’s equation and chemisrty with him, which got them consicutive success.
I also agree, thet even there is no story in the movie, the songs are catchy but easily forgettable, but at the end of the day, it worked. I don want to put my brain when i am going to watch a movie for Fun and entertainment.
~Ashu Bhai MAPRM Wale
I think I’ll agree with Gaurang here to a large extent on D.D the film maker.D.D knows he’s here to entertain & does exactly that.Of course there have been some bad films/failures in between.but his intent has always been the same- to entertain.
And as regards Govinda- he’s probably got the best comic sense of timing and thats a fact that all his co-stars will vouch for inlcuding AB who acted with him in Bade Miyan Chote Miyan ( how come A.Singh- you didnt talk bout this?)
And also A.Singh- how come you didnt talk about the succesful Jai-Veeru ( Sanjay Dutt-Govinda ) team that DD devolped with movies like Haseena Maan Jaayegi, Jodi No.1 & Ek Aur Ek Gyarah?
Another thing to be overlooked is D.D seeking his inspiration from Tamil films for his work.
Saajan Chale Sasural- Veera ( Rajnikant )
Raja Babu- Rasukutty
Coolie No.1- Chinna Mapillai
Biwi No.1- Satileelavathy ( Kamal Haasan)
Andaz-Sundarakandam
Gharwali Baharwali- a Pandiyarajan movie
( not sure of the name ) etc
But all said & done thanks to the post for making us revisit all those movies of DD/Govvinda once again.
Shola aur Shabnam came out a few months before Bol Radha Bol and not after it.
@gaurang: i totally agree with what u have written. i am not denying his ‘entertainment quotient’. i have actually applauded his attempts, read my ‘hats off’ statement.
i was just making the point tat after DD indulged in crass humor, it became a rage and everybody else started aping it and totally spoiled the scene. naughty humor soon became vulgar and DD indulged in it big time…like andaz, eena meena deeka…. i m sure nobody saw these movies, else they would have become hits too. these movies flopped, too much ho gaya tha
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@sethu: for all his remake efforts -
http://passionforcinema.com/david-dhawan-the-remake-king
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since the write-up was on DD, i did not comment on govinda. but frankly speaking, govinda was fantastic in these movies. they complemented each other very well. nobody can match govinda’s comic timing…chunky, salman and everybody else struggled.
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talking of govinda…i think there was a trio and we should not miss out on shakti kapoor and kader khan who were integral to it, playing the perfect foil
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another appreciable thing about govinda was his dance moves, the ease with which he did it and he enjoyed doing it. he was always all-smiles when dancing and actually filled us with joy. it was not an act or a routine dance, he involved himself totally. and he was lucky to find equally good dancers in karisma and raveena who complemented him so well.
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a.singhJi … u have missed out on quite a few things. these were some of the interesting facets to DD’s success.
Also, the music helped big time.
Nice write up. David – Govinda combo had ‘Taaqatwar’ before ‘Swarg’. His debut movie as a director is Love Story(1982) starring Kumar Gourav But he was given credit for that as he had some tiff with Rajendra Kumar
Thanks for all the comments!
This post was only meant to share what I had observed and experienced, not to educate you about David Dhawan and his cinema..hope nobody needs that..:-)
Dewi, You have good point. It was a unique character, not quite the loser type except may be in Aankhen to an extent
Crazyrals- lots of good tid bits about DD, some I was aware of, some I didn’t. I had heard all about Aanadhiyan and comeback of Mumtaz when it released(was curious about films back then) but never got to see the film (wasn’t allowed to in those days). The film was a flop so never saw the need to go back and watch it.
Ashwin and Gaurang- no denying Govinda’s dancing abilities, but still there was something missing that allows Hritik to create magic on screen. But Govinda dancing style suited perfectly to DD’s films.
Sethu,
I wasn’t aware of all Tamil films that DD remade. I had heard about Raja Babu and Gharwali Baharwali being remakes(both I didn’t like) but wasn’t aware of others. He also remade Hollywood films Liar-Lira (Kunki main jhoojh whatever whatever..) and Analyze This (Hum kisi se kum nahi) both flops.
And sorry, I didn’t Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan, just couldn’t stand AB making fool of himself in a second lead role that Sanjay Dutt could have done a good job. AB is way too classy for DD films. For DD films, you have to suppress your classier side and bring up your sillier side. It came naturally to Govinda, others struggled with it.
And yes I didn’t like Govinda’s pairing with Sanjay Dutt, except may be in Haseena…. The humor in the jodi films appears forced and Jodi No. 1 was a big bore. When it comes to DD films, I am probably part of the big huge masses. I seem to like all his hit films and hated the ones that became flops, the only exceptions BMCM, Raja Babu and Mujhse Shadi Karoge, both big hits but I din’t quite like them as much as the public did.
Akash Kaushik,
Just reading those lines makes me crack. DM had some of the funniest lines and Satish Kaushik rocked in a bit role. Pappu Pager will live forever!!
I quite agree that karishma with the silly girl heroine image helped dd-govinda combo.After Karishma refused to work with them their hit machine stopped.Another good thing about Karishma was that she looked good dancing with Govinda and complemented him well on his “funny expressions” while dancing.Raveena later on tried to do that without much success.Later on they tried all kinds of new heroines against Govinda but none of them clicked showing the “team” was successful and not Govinda alone.Even the music in their later films started to sound repitetive and dull and was one of the primary reasons the earlier films were hits.There is also something about Salman in dd films which clicks same like Govinda.Be it Judwaa,Biwi No 1,Mujhse…,Maine Pyar..,Partner their combo was always successful.I think Katrina is the new age karishma who also has a great wardrobe something which is necessary today.
Anindya,
Well said, I have the same opinion. Nobody quite came close to replacing Karishma. I cringed when other heroines like Raveena and others tried doing what Karishma did with ease. The combo really worked. And yes Katrina looked ravishing in Partner and complemented Govinda very well. Not sure if she can do it in all roles though, or may be the role has changed, the badly dressed silly acting Karishma type role wouldn’t work today. As
As for Salman, not sure if he added anything of his own. DD should get all the credit for that. DD just needed a hero and could manage with Akshay, Salman, Anil Kapoor or Sanjay Dutt. With Govinda, it was different.
Sethu,
Even Mujse Shaadi Karogi was the remake of a 2001 tamil movie named Kabaddie Kabaddie starring Pandiarajan, Karan and Rasika !
crazycrystals@4 agree with u.
besides aandhiyaan, we shud also mention aag ka gola. a big turkey starring sunny deol and dimple. with then-sex-bomb archna puransingh in a swimsuit-size role !
HMP@15, what are you talking of? Rahul Rawail’s Love Story? No way! David Dhavan’s movie with Kumar Gaurav is Jurrat. another turkey!
David Dhavan must be the worst director hindi film industry ever produced..I feel that comedy is serious art and this guy destroyed Hindi film comedy in ways which is unimaginable..Leave alone funny one liners, his films are always littered with double meaning stuff and childish toilet humour(example being Partner..such a silly crap movie)..Fortunately with advent of Priyadarshan standard of comedy in Hindi films has sort of improved..
@Gaurav
I don’t get it why are u making a mesiah out of DD?..He was a manipulator at its best..I agree with all emotional stuff u have written but then again u have to think that cinema is an art form.It is not social service..Even if I agree that he made entertaining films I would have accepted him if he was original..He thieved from various south indian films and then also he couldn’t get it right..Is that the yardstick for a helluva talented guy?..DD was a master manipulator along with Subhash Ghai and Manmohan Desai who proved that how with minimum talent maximum money can be made..
@sharath: tat was too far-fetched a comment. DD is definitely not the worst and priyadarshan is no better at comedy than DD is.
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both indulge in slapstick humor and stereotyping. both of them are as good or as bad as they come
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priyadarshan has not improved the comedy standards in hindi films, u r sadly mistaken. he is just riding the same horse tat everybody else is…
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if u want some good clean fun , unadulterated humor then hrishikesh mukherjee is the man. watch chupke-chupke, golmaal, anand etc…no double meaning dialogs, no cheap lines…just some good humor with a lot of logic…not the ‘put ur brains aside’ humor
@crazyrals
I disagree..Priyadarshan’s Hungama and HeraPheri at any day is far better than the best of DD films..In which Priyan film u can find double meaning stuff the way it is in DD films?..There is nothing wrong with slapstick humour if it is done in a proper way and Priyan has succeeded in it to some extend..
Coming to Hrishikesh Mukerjee movies,that is in a different league.His films are more of a social drama with elements of humour in it..Comparing it with a Priyadarshan or DD movie is not fair..
@sharath: i was not comparing hrishi da with these directors, the comparision does not begin. u spoke of good clean humor, so i brought it up.
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anyways, each of us have our own views on things. i put DD and priyan on par, as already mentioned. by the way, hungama had its fair share of double meaning dialogs and those ‘wifey’ jokes which were quite shallow. anyways….
@Sharath
My friend, Cinema is no longer just an art form. It is a medium of entertainment also. And entertainment is a very basic need. Each and every person requires entertainment in some form or other. If you disagree with this, then the argument is closed. and if you agree with this, then you cant deny that DD was a messaih to the masses. He provided them entertainment of the highest order. Double meaning humor???? Am I missing something here?? Only Raja Babu pops up in my mind, and that too bcoz of the Khatiya song. Deewana Mastana, Hero no.1, Coolie no.1, Judwaa, Jodi no.1, Haseena Maan Jaayegi?????Please help me to recollect any double meaning humor!!
.umm wat else..yeah.. judwaa-some jackie chans film, I have watched that jackie chan film completely, believe me Judwaa was a much better entertainer.. please help me with other Hollywood copy-paste jobs by DD
And about plagiarism, I am really not aware of the Tamil movies which he remaked… I am aware of Partner-Hitch, I didn’t like Partner much, Kunwara-a walk in the clouds, only the concept is copied, baaki sab kuch ekdum desi, I loved Kunwara, Hero no. 1-Baawarchi, I loved them both, Baawarchi was vintage Hrishida and Hero no.1 vintage DD-Govinda, Baawarchi was a bit classy, while Hero no1 was gloriusly massy
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Sharath, u got it all wrong when u said that the arrival of Priyadarshan has improved comedy in Hindi films… Priyadarshan’s comedy genius starts with hera pheri and ends with hungama (btw Hungama had a very boring Aftab sidetrack).. Wat after that??? Hulchul?? Chupke Chupke?? Dhol?? Malamaal weekly?? Garam Masala?? Puhhleeze man!! each of them sucked in one way or other!!! He cannot reach DD’s comedy genuis in his lifetime….
Please give us back the Priyan who made Gardish and Viraasat..
Priyan’s Hera Pheri had a class and was at par with Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Everything was downhill from there. He couldn’t quire repeat the magic.
I agree with Gaurang, the only film where DD used double meaning stuff was Raja Babu and that too only in songs. The film was actually too much weepy family drama. Some other films such as Shaadi No. 1 and Andaz also did it, but the public rejected it.
Audience is smarter than we give them credit for!
@ Gaurang
I agree with you. Making masala entertainers is not very easy. You have to keep the audience hooked and keep them entertained for 2 1/2 hours without making a hash of it. For Ex. Chandni Chowk to China was a comlete disaster. The audience also accepts such films only if they are good. David Dhawan has a special skill. I believe he was the only Director who came close to making Manmohan Desai style entertainers. Another director who had a great sense of drama and entertainment was Subhash Ghai. It’s unfortunate that he has lost it now. We need to give David Dhawan credit for that. Only he is capable of churning out Super hits consistently in this genre.
the commetns have tapped so many tracks, its difficult to comment and not be subjected to categorisation. so im reserving them.
as far as double meaning in DD films r concerned, please refer to Andaaz, Anil Kapoor, Karishma and Juhi Chawla cudnt have been more vulgar. Khada Hai Khada Hai song, anyone! recently, AK was reminded of the film and the song in particular on a talk show, post his SDM hype, and he was so embarrassed, he cudnt even blsh or hide his face.