40 years of Chashme Buddoor: Rakesh Bedi recalls bonding with Farooq Shaikh, Ravi Baswani

Twenty years before Dil Chahta Hai (2001), there was another film about three males bonding that entered the consciousness of cinema lovers and continues to reside there. Sai Paranjpye’s Chashme Buddoor (1981) had comedy, romance, misunderstandings and a wee bit of action as well, but it steered well clear of being a masala entertainer.

Chashme Buddoor revolves around bachelors Siddharth (Farooq Shaikh), Omi (Rakesh Bedi) and Jai (Ravi Baswani) who share a pad in Delhi. Omi and Jai look at women with longing while the shy Siddharth is more focused on his career.

When Omi and Jai come across the beautiful Neha (Deepti Naval), they try to impress her repeatedly and fail miserably. Circumstances introduce Neha with Siddharth and they slowly fall in love. When Omi and Jai get to know about Siddharth’s girlfriend, it results in dramatic and funny situations.

As writer and director, Paranjpye narrated the tale keeping the proceedings real and believable. The relatability factor of the film has ensured that it has stayed relevant even 40 years after its release on 8 May 1981.

In an exclusive conversation with Cinestaan.com, Rakesh Bedi recalled the days of the shoot with Shaikh and Baswani and also opened up on his own journey as an actor. Excerpts:

How important has Chashme Buddoor been in your career?

Chashme Buddoor is a landmark film and an important milestone in my career. The film is so relevant that even today, 40 years after its release, I keep getting compliments for it left, right and centre. You get such compliments only if someone revisits or refreshes the film. If someone had seen it 40 years ago, he or she won’t compliment me today. It has to be recent viewing.

The film ignites a few things. Like your first love and hostel life. Every student must have had a good bonding with three or four people in college. The film ignites that bonding. It ignites the city of Delhi, which is a character in the film.

Also, college students keep udhaari [outstandings] with the paanwallah, milk vendor and grocery stores. And that person gives them udhaari [credit] only because he is a lovable person, like Saeed Jaffrey in our film. If he is like a villain, he won’t give udhaari.

The bike in the film is also a character; the three friends are seen riding together. The film also had masti [humour] on how boys hit on girls. So for all these reasons, the film will be relatable to anyone who is passing or has passed through this phase.

Sai Paranjpye’s writing and direction played a big role in the film's success. What quality of hers did you like the most?

The best thing about the film is its writing. It was balanced and without unnecessary elements and melodrama. It didn’t have anything that was 'timely' [relevant only to that era]. Like how writers sometimes include something that is trending during the time it was being made. Timely elements do provide fun, but it doesn’t become timeless.

Sai Paranjpye’s direction was simple. It didn’t have any gimmicks to show people how great a director she is. The same is the case with the acting and camera angles. The film also [for a change] showed the girl’s father as sweet. Her grandmother (Leela Mishra) is her confidante. Similarly, there are so many little things in the film that ignite passions even after all these years.

The chemistry between you, Farooq Shaikh and Ravi Baswani was the highlight of the film.

Farooq was also from Bombay. I used to do theatre with IPTA [Indian People's Theatre Association], and still do. He was also a member of IPTA. So Farooq was my friend and we had a lot of common friends. We had a very good bonding and a lovely friendship. We all spent a lot of evenings together.

At that time, Ravi Baswani wasn’t an old friend. I met him for the first time on the sets. But it didn’t take me long to bond with him. He was an outgoing person with a nice nature. The thing with comedy is that if there is no bonding among the co-stars, how will it get reflected on the screen?

Can you recall any funny incident during the shoot?

I have a thin moustache throughout the film. It was called talwar [sword] cut moustache. It was that thin. I had grown it naturally as I felt there was no point in putting on a fake one. At that time, I was also doing a film [Apna Bana Lo, 1982] in Bombay with J Omprakashji as the director and Jeetendra as the hero. One schedule of the film came up while I was in Delhi shooting for Chashme Buddoor. 

I told Sai I need to go to Bombay for three or four days. She said that’s fine, but do return on time. She was short-tempered. She could get angry at you in front of everyone. So people were a bit scared of her.

When I reached Bombay, I was reminded that in the scenes I had already shot for J Omprakashji’s film, I wasn’t sporting a moustache. I told them I can’t remove the moustache as I have it in Chashme Buddoor and it will hamper my continuity. But they said there is continuity here too. I was told a person can sport a fake moustache if he doesn’t have one, but it can’t work the other way round. So I removed it.

When I returned to Delhi, I drew a fake moustache with a pencil before going to the set. You would notice it [was drawn] only if you came close. Three or four days passed and nobody noticed anything. Then one day, when it was very hot, the make-up person gave me and Farooq a cloth to wipe our faces. I wiped my face and half my moustache was gone (laughs)! Farooq was shocked. Look in the mirror, he told me. I did and got worried thinking of what Sai would say.

Just then, Sai arrived. She saw me and started shouting. I politely told her I was shooting with a fake moustache for four days, did you realize it? She said no. So I said, theek hai, you won’t realize it in future too (laughs).

Your old TV serials like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi and Shrimaan Shrimati are still watched regularly on YouTube. Have you noticed this?

Yes, I have. They are a part of life for people. There are instances when people, while having a conversation with me, say that now they will sleep after watching an episode of Shrimaan Shrimati. There are a lot of people who are depressed and looking for entertainment who see the show. There is a good friend of mine whose factory was in Thane [near Mumbai] earlier. While travelling to and fro he used to watch my serials like Shrimaan Shrimati and Yes Boss.

I have travelled all around the world for films and theatre. Some of the plays I have written are iconic. Like Mera Woh Matlab Nahin Tha, which had me, Anupam Kher and Neena Gupta, and Pati Patni Aur Main, which had Shatrughan Sinha. Wherever I have travelled, be it Australia, Africa, America, South America or Europe, I find people who have a few of my titles in their library, pen drive or system, which include Chashme Buddoor, Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981), Hero No 1 (1997), Shrimaan Shrimati, Yes Boss, etc.

You did your first web-series, Fathers, some time back. As it’s a different medium, how was your experience?

It is different. One thing I am unable to understand is that web-shows are tilted more towards crime stories. The same is the case with their makers and the audience. However, Fathers is a very simple and funny story of how, after a certain age, three fathers are adjusting with their kids.

I feel [what we are seeing] is just the tip of the iceberg. Web-series is a very big field and a big journey for me. I have two or three ventures in the pipeline, but they have been halted by the second wave [of COVID-19].

At what point in your life did you decide to become a full-time actor?

It was an organic process. It wasn’t that one day I just felt I should become an actor. I also didn’t aspire to be a star. I always felt I enjoy acting, so I want to be an actor. This is because I can’t remember any time during my school and college life when I didn’t participate in acting competitions and cultural programmes. For example, just two days before my higher secondary exams in the 11th standard, I was rehearsing for a play for a competition. I never thought of going into any other profession. I joined the FTII [Film and Television Institute of India, Pune] and after that I came to Bombay.

You are known for your comic timing and you have played a lot of comical characters. Were you always inclined towards comedy or did you just happen to receive more of such roles?

I selected to do comedy. There were stereotypes in the industry when I joined — the hero should be six-foot-tall, the heroine should look a particular way, the villain’s sidekicks should have a particular look, the comedian should act in a particular way, and the same was with fathers and mothers. So, I didn’t have any slot to get in; only formula films were being made — boy meets girl, then a villain comes in, boy kills villain and he and the girl live happily ever after. Add some songs, fights and comedy in between, but the story remains the same. From the 1970s to 2000s, our cinema was such.

So I thought how can I make a place for myself in such a scenario? Nobody is going to take me as a villain. There weren’t good characters being written, like there are today. The entire focus was on the hero. If the film is a hit, the hero becomes a hit. If the film flops, the hero flops.