Chhoti Si Baat | Valentine's Day Special Review | Critique

You want to say ‘I Love You’ but you can’t say it. Why? The fear of rejection stops you. Her good friend outsmarts you in almost every fashion. You see yourself in mirror and find yourself shrinking into a piece of door-mat, at everybody’s disposal. Atleast one third of the world would admit undergoing similar situation. Another one-third would never accept for the fear of being ridiculed. No wonder, a large number of people loved this movie when it came to theatres and even after that on VCR, VHS, CDs and cable television. Basu Chatterjee’s one of the finest work, ‘Chhoti Si Baat’ is a magical experience.

Arun (Amol Palekar) is a simpleton who lacks self-confidence. He happens to see Prabha (Vidya Sinha) and falls in love with her. Due to official connection, they happen to talk and Arun sees this as a golden opportunity. But all efforts to convince himself are thwarted by arrival of a smart colleague of Prabha, Nagesh (Asrani). Frustrated and dejected Arun seeks solution at the doors of astrologers, gurus etc. One day he reads about Colonel Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh (Ashok Kumar) who grooms people. Colonel develops affection for him for his simple ways and decides to help him. But the task is really difficult. Can tortoise match the hare this time?

CSB is a very sweet and at times mushy movie. Expressions overshadow dialogues and all four main actors gave amazing performances. Music complements the story well. ‘Na Jaane Kyun’ epitomes the emotions of a girl who misses her secret lover. Another memorable song, ‘Janeman Janeman’ is peppy and crisp. Direction is too good. Basu Chatterjee’s work has the sensibility and simplicity of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. He keeps the laughter quotient low and smile quotient very high. The characters are simple and very much like us.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh