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Chupke Chupke Movie Review: In the mid-1970s, when Hindi cinema was buzzing with action-packed films, angry man roles, and melodramas, a new idea of comedy brewed in the mind of filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee. He introduced a new identity for Bollywood's He-Man, Dharmendra, as a prankster at the time, when the actor was already recognised as a superstar known for intense action roles. Dharmendra took a gamble in his peak career by portraying a mischievous, gentle and clever Botany professor, Parimal Tripathi. In 1975, Dharmendra stepped into the world of language-based comedy and subtle social commentary. Chupke Chupke was not just a comedy film, but it was a blueprint of modern humour, released at that time, when the world didn't yet know it needed one. From pretending to be a watchman and a driver, Dharmendra outshone in the roles of Parimal/Pyare Mohan Allahabadi, joined in by chaos and pranks led by Amitabh Bachchan and Sharmila Tagore.

How Dharmendra's Parimal Redefined Comedy In Chupke Chupke

In the mid-70s, when heroes were flexing their muscles, fighting villains, or delivering dramatic monologues, Dharmendra entered with Chupke Chupke with a different mission and vision. Hrishikesh Mukherjee gave birth to a new kind of hero with his narrative. Dharmendra impressed the audience not with one but two characters. He even disguised himself as a driver, Pyare Mohan.

Chupke Chupke Casting And Identity Pranks

Hrishikesh Mukherjee placed an action hero like Dharmendra into the role of a scholarly, comedic professor, which was revolutionary in itself. Parimal, pretending to be a driver to prove to his wife, Sulekha (Sharmila Tagore), that he was no less than her brother-in-law, Raghav, played by Om Prakash. Sharmila portrayed a witty, educated wife who supported her husband's cleverness and pranks.

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Dharmendra Amitabh Bachchan Chupke Chupke

Joining this chaos, Amitabh Bachchan, then a rising angry young man, played Sukumar Sinha, a soft-spoken English professor.

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How Chupke Chupke Was Ahead Of Its Time

A Hindi adaptation of the Bengali film Chhadmabeshi (1971), Hrishikesh Mukherjee created it into a Hindi classic, with witty dialogues, situational comedy, and evergreen songs. At a time when India was still defining its identity post-Independence, the country was surrounded by language politics, and the Hindi vs English debate was a major topic of discussion.

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Chupke Chupke hit theatres on April 11, 1975, introducing the character, Pyaare Mohan, who speaks fluent Hindi, while Amitabh played Parimal’s friend, an English professor, who talks about William Shakespeare in the movie. This linguistic contrast was not touched by any filmmaker at that time. Chupke Chupke was ahead of its time because Mukherjee crafted a film packed with modern comedy where jokes were created through words, grammar and linguistic pride. One of the classics of Hindi cinema starred Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, David Abraham, Asrani, Usha Kiran and many others.

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