Chupke Chupke (1975)
6/10
Pretty funny, though a bit dragged out
27 December 2004
I love Hrishikesh Mukherjee's work. The man seems to be good at whatever movie he makes. He made a series of comedies, including "Guddi," "Bawarchi," and "Gol Maal," all of which were funny and heartwarming. "Chupke Chupke" is pretty funny, too.

The film follows the newlywed botany professor Parimal (Dharmendra) and his lovely wife Archana (Sharmila Tagore), the latter of whom can't stop talking about how wonderful her "jijaji" (Hindi for sister's husband, played here by Om Prakash) is. After 3 weeks of marriage, Parimal is sick of hearing about nothing but this doggoned "jijaji" and decides that he must stick it to him and Archana once and for all. "Jijaji" is supposed to be the most brilliant and perceptive man in the world according to Archana, so Parimal decides that the best way to stick it to them all is to somehow fool "jijaji." Fortunately for him, "jijaji" has asked Archana to help him find a chauffeur and so Parimal decides to go posed as the chauffeur instead. Archana decides to play along with this little scheme, as do Archana's older brother (David) and Parimal's friends Prashant (Asrani) and Sukumar (Amitabh Bacchan), the latter of whom is an English professor who will soon end up taking a hilarious fish-out-of-water role in the scheme.

And they're off! From there, the movie follows a few too many twists and turns all the way to an ending that is a tad bit too convenient and a tad bit too short.

The dialogue is well-written in "Chupke Chupke," making heavy use of double entendres that really add to the humor. Added to that is the fact that "jijaji" is a stickler for purity of language and so Parimal, posing as the chauffeur, makes sure to speak in Hindi so dignified that he has "jijaji" baffled any time he opens his mouth. (It's a dialogue technique that Mukherjee would later reuse in "Gol Maal.") Even though the movie drags out this joke a little too long and some might have trouble believing that dignified college professors can pull off such childish pranks, "Chupke Chupke" is entertaining and worth watching.
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