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Isi Ka Naam Zindagi can now be called a vintage Aamir Khan starrer. When the movie was first released, I remember, there weren't too many takers. The song 'Babam babam bam bhole', composed by Bappi Lahiri, was a moderate hit, and so was the title track sung by Anup Jalota. But the movie is indeed watchable because of the wry social comment that has been packaged intelligently as an over-the-top comedy. It is based on an acclaimed Bengali play by Manoj Mitra, which was first filmed in Bengali by Tapan Sinha as 'Banchharamer Bagan' (considered by many as a cult Bengali classic). Though the compulsions of mainstream Hindi cinema redeems the delicate flavor of the original work to some extent, yet Isi Ka Naam Zindagi deserves to be seen as a delectable comedy with a heart, and also for the fine performances of Aamir Khan, Farha Naaz and Pran.

Isi Ka Naam Zindagi review :

Based on a famous Bengali play, Isi Ka Naam Zindagi was started in 1988 but creative differences between Aamir Khan and director Kalidas lead to its delayed release in August 1992. A Bengali film based on the same play was already released by then and became a big hit while this Hindi adaptation turned out to be a resounding box office flop.

The plot was quite interesting spanning two generation of Zamindars (both Shakti Kapoor) who try to usurp the beautiful garden owned by a senile old man (Pran). His grandson (Aamir) wants to build a liqour den there but the oldie drives him away. The chote Zamindar then tries to grab the property from the oldie in lieu of monthly pension of four hundred rupees. While the landlord expects the old man to die soon, he turns out to be a blessed guy from whom Yamraaj (God of death) stays far away..

The film had awesome performances from veteran actor Pran and Shakti Kapoor in double role of baap- beta. The ending had me in splits. Tee hee!!

Aamir Khan was however shortchanged with a somewhat inconsequential role relegated to songs and dance. Bappi Lahiri's "Golai Golai Go" became popular but Aamir- Farha pair was never accepted by the audience. Their previous film Jawani Zindabad (1990) also failed at the ticket windows.

Later, a Marathi film called Narbachi Wadi (2013) was made on the same plot and that turned out to be a box office hit. A subject working well in regional cinema but flopping in Hindi mainstream was repeated with Saajan Ka Ghar (1994) which was a remake of Marathi blockbuster Maherchi Saadi (1991). The Juhi Chawla film flopped badly while all other regional adaptations of Maherchi Saadi were super hits.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.