The Baldev Brothers in Naams

"Papa kehte hain bada naam karega!"

-Debutant Aamir Khan singing in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak

"Mere hisaab se, agar is desh ke baap nahi sudhrenge, ye desh nahi sudhrega!"

-Aamir Khan, six years later, in Andaz Apna Apna.

In transit from the masala genre to the romance genre, Bollywood saw crestfallen dadas and grandiose dads (in negative roles); and why not, charity and villainy, both begin at home. The masculine, patriarchal and authoritarian father figure of the '90s has come under the radar of contemporary feminist studies. But this article has nothing to do with academic critiques of a Tribhuvan Das from Chaalbaaz or a Saxena from Kaho Naa...Pyar Hai. We all know that they were inherently bad dads.

Their trademark antagonisms aside, this article is a showcase of two of the most memorable fathers Bollywood has ever seen: Bauji (Amrish Puri) from DDLJ and Thakur sahab (Sanjeev Kumar) from Sholay. Two doppelgangers, two decades apart.

Image source: Sanjeev Kumar (IMDb); Amrish Puri (India Today)

Notice their eyes. While Thakur's eyes show a philosophical depth, Bauji's eyes outrightly threaten an upward gaze directed at them. Facial differences aside, their eyes had set out foreseeing a future with changing fortunes. While Thakur left his ancestral farmlands for the decorated job of a police inspector, Bauji left his Punjab to do business and settle overseas in London, possibly out of the post-Green Revolution prosperity. Both of them won, but at what cost?

"Mujhe Gabbar chahiye. Zinda!"

Thakur lost his entire family to a dacoit, in a chronologically poignant scene. One scene, the viewers see Thakur listing out all his beloved family members and a sweet retire-at-fifty tale, the other scene, a surreal nightmare unravels in front of Thakur's helpless eyes, now baying for the blood of Gabbar, an alive Gabbar.

"Yeh Landan hai"

In medias res, as we see Bauji poetically introspecting himself (all Guru Dutt style) at Trafalgar Square, comparing himself with migratory pigeons, we see a helpless man trying to save the collapsing bridge of the traditional Indian or Punjabi family from the troubled waters of Westernisation. In some sense, Bauji is the typical post-Purab aur Paschim patriarch who remote-controls his two daughters to Indian-ness. While there is nothing wrong with the intent, it is the actions, and again which bewilder. As they say, "the eyes have it".

So much for their eyes, let us look into their hearts. Both of these gentlemen seem to be hard to crack nuts, but sustain a heart of gold, molten gold, if I may go the extra mile of praise. 

While Thakur is overprotective of his widowed daughter-in-law, Radha, Bauji feels the same for his own daughter Simran. And most of the screen time of the respective films is gone into showing the black gradient of the grey characters both of them play. Grey is not just their character, it is their heart and soul. What the viewers fail to see are the circumstances which have hardened the two gentlemen. That both of them, especially Bauji, however unreasonable and regressive they/he may be, are/is a product of their/his times. And change, which we see in a modern context, can faintly be applied to such indelible characters.

What digressed into a moral science lecture was the fact that both of these "dads" were once optimistic, life-loving cheerful selves who had sudden breaches of faith which made their strict demeanour irreversible. 

If one were to create a hybrid of these two fathers, one would get Shammi Kapoor from Hero, who goes from pillar-to-post, tries hook and crook to prevent his daughter from marrying her "Hero" (Jackie Shroff), the supposedly rogue but reformed convict. That said, I get an inkling that Hero can indeed be considered as a precursor to DDLJ. It fulfils the criteria of a fairly large screen time to supporting characters, good music and fresh faces. What it does miss, though, is the legacy. Anyhow, back to the father.

Often at loggerheads with the Romeo, both Thakur and Bauji end up accepting Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Raj (Shahrukh Khan) as their sons-in-law. While Bauji does not accept Raj's proposals till "he can hear the whistle blow", Thakur goes the extra mile to convince the society of widow-remarriage. (rope him in for Prem Rog and the film would be halved). While the former does it out of his daughter's behest, the latter does it to re-witness a colourful and smiling Radha. Their love for their daughters/in-law is as debatable among contemporary feminists as the fact that every year, Daughter's Day falls on a "Sun"day.

By their deeds, I would surely rate Thakur and Bauji as brothers-in-arms, but for Thakur's sake, I'll call them Brothers-in-Naams because why not!

They share the exact same name: Baldev Singh.