Whatever happened to 'The Family'?

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Whatever happened to The Family?

Almost a couple of decades after its release, Hum Saath-Saath Hain is back in the news because of Salman Khan's conviction. It's time to take stock of the aftermath of the bonhomie

by

Khalid Mohamed

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Published: Fri 20 Apr 2018, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Mon 23 Apr 2018, 10:06 AM

So, now the 19-year-old film Hum Saath-Saath Hain (We Are All Together) has an ironical ring about it. As the world knows, Salman Khan was found guilty in the blackbuck poaching case in Jodhpur. His colleagues Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre were acquitted.
WhatsApp messages, memes and tweets followed - showing a bereft Salman, with captions saying words to the effect: that the film's title should have never been taken literally. There's no bonding, no element of saath-saath in show business.
Without getting into the pros and cons of the legal case, here's focusing rather on the law of survival in the thickets of the Bollywood system.
That incites the question: whatever happened to the sprawling ensemble cast of the quintessential goody-goody family picture helmed by Sooraj Barjatya, who, back in 1999, was an A-list director?
For starters, there's no doubt that Rajshri Productions, founded by his late grandfather Tarachand Barjatya, is still a major force to reckon with. At 54, Sooraj remains a self-effacing personality, even though he did score a hit with Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015), featuring his favourite actor Salman. News is that the next generation is being prepped to carry the family banner forward. A trade report has announced, "Sooraj's son, Devansh, is working on a script. His first choice, obviously, is Salman." No more details have been available.
Two character actors of Hum Saath-Saath Hain are no more. Reema Lagoo, always the benign mother, and Sadashiv Amrapurkar, there to supply the villainous edge, passed away in 2017 and 2014 respectively.
Himani Shivpuri, now 57, there to liven up proceedings with her bustling screen presence, fetches up on cinema or television screens only once in a blue moon. Kalpana Iyer, now 62, who made her presence felt with her brief role in Hum Saath-Saath Hain, resolved to quit the scene, and is now based in Dubai.
In the case of film actors, twists and turns - for the good, bad or the pragmatic - are as inevitable as changes in movie technology. Back in the late '90s, films were still being shot on celluloid; today, it's the digital age. Quite cannily, Rajshri Productions has also had to move with the times. For instance, the stricture of not showing any non-vegetarian food in the dining table scenes has been dispensed with steadily. Female characters are being assigned a feisty spirit - like Sonam Kapoor was, to a degree, in Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.
Meanwhile, Barjatya regular Alok Nath, who started out in experimental theatre and made his debut with a brief part in Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, has been pigeonholed as the jolly-ho father, grandfather or uncle. In a series of memes and jokes, the 61-year-old actor has been lampooned with such one-liners as "Alok Nath is father to so many sons and daughters that when his family goes on vacation, they book an entire train."
Sportingly, Alok Nath has taken the jibes with good humour; to escape the typecasting, he acted as a footloose old man in the surprise hit Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. For once, he was noticed by the critics instead of being ignored as part of a film's furniture.
TV actor Mahesh Thakur couldn't encash on the Saath-Saath success. Aged 48, he's now a regular on TV soaps. Mohnish Bahl, who played one of the three male leads in Hum Saath-Saath Hain, has opted to take a sabbatical perhaps. At 56, he isn't being bombarded with film offers and has been disenchanted with his shots at televison stardom, stating categorically, "I feel TV's script content is pathetic."
Son of legendary actress Nutan, he had once aspired to be a conventional hero with such films as Teri Baahon Mein (1984), an adaptation of The Blue Lagoon (1980). Overall, Mohnish's career has been jagged and confined, mostly cast as the stock-in-trade baddy. Sooraj gave him his most prominent roles but that's it. The update is that Mohnish is grooming his daughter, Pranutan, to enter the movies.
Forty-seven-year-old Saif Ali Khan, at the moment, is facing a down-curve, with his films proving to be non-starters. Besides the under-production film Bazaar, he has assented to a Netflix series, an adaptation of Vikram Chandra's novel Sacred Games, in which he will essay the part of a tough-as-nails cop.
The status of the leading ladies of Hum Saath-Saath Hain is pretty much public knowledge. Karisma Kapoor, at 43, isn't in a hurry to make a comeback after the disastrous Dangerous Ishq (2012). According to the grapevine, after her separation from Sanjay Kapur, she is waiting to formalise her relationship with businessman Sandeep Toshniwal.
Married to director Goldie Behl, Sonali Bendre, also 43, is seen and heard essentially at fashion events. No more screen appearances after a cameo in Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara (2013). Her trysts with theatre and television have been inexplicably shortlived.
Gratifyingly, 46-year-old Tabu is way more outgoing nowadays, and has been seen in recent years in Drishyam (2015), Fitoor (2016), Golmaal Again (2017), and the lately released Missing.
By contrast, the perky 49-year-old Neelam - who played the candy sweet sister in Hum Saath-Saath Hain - has been conspicuous by her absence for quite a while now, except at social dos. Married to actor Sameer Soni, she has found an alternative career as a jewellery designer.
Moral of the story: apart from the movies, there are many other miles to go.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com


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