‘Rui Ka Bojh’ – a nice, clean, and different movie. The story of an aging parent and his children has been told in several movies, but this one is something different from all others films in this genre. This is mainly because of its unique storytelling style and subtle humour that keeps the viewer engaged.
The story is based on Chandra Kishore Jaiswal’s novel Gawah Gair Hazir.
The plot
The movie is the story of Kishan Shah (Pankaj Kapoor), who after dividing his properties decides to stay with his youngest son Ram Sharan (Raghubir Yadav). Ram Sharan wants to take care of his dad well. He tells his wife (Reema Lagoo) to provide him with all that he needs. As time goes by Kishan Shah starts complaining like the other old men and starts making mountains out of molehills. Things get out of hand and one day Ram Sharan manhandles his father.
Kishan Shah then decides to snap all ties with the family and spend the rest of his life in a temple. What follows is the climax. However, the movie does not deal with these familial issues in a sad tone. Rather, it uses humour and pinpoints the idiosyncracies and mistakes of older people.
Subtle humour
The subtle comedy in the story arises out of realistic situations. And it is you, as the viewer, who can see the comic relief in a serious scene played by the characters. The unique style of comedy makes this movie memorable. You don’t know whether to laugh or feel sad for the characters and their circumstances. People who know the Hindi language might enjoy it more as the tone of the dialogues often gets lost in the subtitles.
Chemistry between the characters
Kishan Shah’s helping hands are his grandsons Nunu Lal, Chunma, and Munma. The child actor who portrayed Chunma is especially endearing. The interactions between Chunma and his grandfather are quite entertaining.
Similarly, the scenes involving Kishan Shah and his daughter-in-law are also good. The movie does not go down the cliche route of a greedy, uncaring son and daughter-in-law. It seems very realistic and authentic with a lot of light moments.
Pankaj Kapur, as always, is awesome in the movie. I can’t imagine anybody else portraying this role like him. He has essayed the role to perfection. Raghubir Yadav and Reema Lagoo too excel in their supporting roles.
‘Rui Ka Bojh’ was directed by Subhash Agarwal and was made by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDCI). The movie was released in the year 1997, having a running time of 115 minutes. Interestingly NFDCI re-released the movie in digitally re-mastered print to commemorate 100 years of cinema in 2013.
Watch the trailer here:
