From difficult to dutiful: Dads in films

SASHWATI SANYAL / Jun 21, 2009, 08:00 IST

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Dads onscreen have mostly got a hard deal for themselves, but not anymore.

From difficult to dutiful: Dads in films

Fathers are mostly the reviled creatures in Bollywood. Most storylines veer around the lot of the mothers sacrificing their lives to bring up their children.
Naturally, mothers take the cake when it comes to revenge, vengeance and divine interference. However one wonders, whether the character of the father will remain stuck in time or will see more realistic dads on the silver screen.
Director Mahesh Bhatt, who had directed the tear-jerker Daddy says, ��When I made that film, there were people who said it would never workout. But I was absolutely convinced that this is exactly what I wanted to make. Both Pooja and I remain very close to that film. It was a story especially made as a tribute to my daughter and I didn��t want to change the script even a bit. Even during the shooting, it brought me so much closer to my daughter, and she on her part learnt new things about her daddy.��
With Bollywood blockbusters cashing in on the sympathy factor - most films end up using the character of the mother as the main protagonist. However there have been some films like Inderjeet where Amitabh Bachchan avenged the death of his daughter who was raped brutally. Director KV Raju has this to say, ��The film did not work so well at the box office as it was a different concept. Here was a dad who thought the world of his daughter and was seeking revenge for her death. But later on when I interacted with my fans, I realiSed why most of them were so disappointed with the film. Some revealed that it was difficult to understand a father��s closeness to his daughter, because fathers never really allow theirs kids to know of their feelings.�� The Big B of course went on to play a devoted father to his daughter in law, Rani Mukherji in Babul.

Even as the filmi concept is undergoing a change as far as dads are concerned, there is already a change in the persona of screen dads. If one recalls the Raymond ad, one is almost touched by the dad��s response when he sees his daughter tripping over and being saved by her husband. Says ad guy, Manav Roy, ��One can see the changing trend as dads are willing top come out of their closets. They no longer want to be seen as a formidable creature everyone is scared of. Instead they take pride in letting their feelings known and be regarded as human. I also have a teenage daughter and we are like best friends. So when real life is changing why not reel?��

Actor Anupam Kher who has portrayed lots of Daddy roles in films says, ��The image of the father has undergone a sea change. Earlier the father figure was someone who was rigid and grumpy most of the time, however now you see Shah Rukh Khan playing a cool dad to his eight-year-old daughter in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.��
Aamir Khan��s Akele Hum Akele Tum saw an agonised dad being played by Khan who could go to any length to secure the custody of his son. A path breaking film in its time, it saw the female lead played by Manisha Koirala actually abandoning the baby to pursue her dreams.
Psychologist Sameer Nagpal points out, ��Films are changing the image of the dad. With changing lifestyles, women too have to stay out of house for longer period of time. Thus the father has to pitch in with his share of looking after the child. And when that happens, fathers get in touch with their vulnerable side and become more expressive.��
Take the cool Saif Ali Khan who played daddy dear to kids in Tara Rum Pum. Khan is quoted as saying he was never balked to play dad and the role came naturally to him for he loves playing dad and best buddy to his children Sara and Ibrahim. What��s more, where earlier the lead actor would agree to play the father figure only in his late fifties and sixties, heroes today take on the role quite younger and with much aplomb. For instance, Akshay Kumar played a much harassed and then reformed dad in Heyy Baby and enjoyed it to the hilt.
As actor Rishi Kapoor who essayed the role of Saif��s dad in Hum Tum says, ��In our time, taking on a fatherly role was a big ��no��. It meant that your days as the lead were already over, But today, people are making films centered on young dad/moms and they are stylish and individualistic much unlike the way we used to be.��
Even as Bollywood takes a leap from regressive to progressive where the dad's portrayal in concerned, screen daddies are yet to come to limelight.
Father's Day special

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