छोटी सी बाट - Chotti si Baat

On the onset of monsoons, with pitter-patter raindrops falling by the windows, my thoughts started wandering off to lush greeneries of Khandala, Lonavala and the entire stretch of Sahyadri ranges, which look like a spread of green carpet in this season.

The moment I think of Khandala, one name starts reverberating in my ears. That name is none other than Col. Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh. Oh yeah, you might think who he is? He is none other than our own Dadamuni(Ashok Kumar) in old classic Chotti si Baat. The movie was directed by Basu Chatterjee (Basuda) who at his time crafted some wonderful movies like Rajnigandha, Chitchor, Khatta Meetha, Priyatama to name a few. Apart from movies, he also gave a few TV Serials out of which "Rajini" was a smash hit, where Priya Tendulkar fights for the common people’s cause.

Talking about Basuda films, my all time favourite is Chotti si Baat - superbly acted by Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha, Asrani and of course Dadamuni. It has got all the ingredients a well-made movie should have: great music by Salil Chaturvedi, great screenplay, introspective dialogues and excellent direction.

The story revolves around Amol Palekar and Vidya Sinha with two other main characters: one of Asrani who tries to steal away Amol Palekar love and the other of Dadamuni who comes to the rescue of Amol Palekar. The picturisation mostly done in the streets of Bombay in the 1970s. The movie is simplicity personified where each and every one of us can relate to Amol’s character atsome point or other. The movie has more insightful practical lessons, which one cannot learn doing an MBA from IIM. Basuda explains through Dadamuni the importance of body language, sitting postures, speaking tones, ways to build self-confidence and above all knowing the opponents weakness. He even explained that you could win over your opponent by loosing to him.

Whenever I see the movie, somewhere or the other I can relate it to my struggling days in Bombay in the late 1990s. It is not easy to be low in confidence. It requires a lot of courage and self-determination to come out of that shell. Above all, you require a mentor to mould you or guide you. I can say that 10% of the confidence I have is because of Basuda and Dadamunni.

Hope the rain continues through the night and I can tell Sejal to make bhajias, so that I can sit with bhajia and watch this evergreen movie humming the song
"Na Jaane Kyuun, Hotaa Hai Ye Zindagi Ke Saath
Achaanak Ye Man
Kisi Ke Jaane Ke Baad, Kare Phir Usaki Yaad
Chhoti Chhoti Si Baat, Na Jaane Kyuun ..."