Gol Maal: Hrishikesh Mukherjee's timeless comedy had Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt at their very best. Bhavani Shankar (Utpal Dutt), plays the bizarre businessman with extremely traditional values without hilarious ease while Palekar is exceptional in two completely diverse roles as Ramprasad and Laxmanprasad Sharma.
Did You Know? Apparently, Rekha was the initial choice for the part played by Bindya Goswami in the film
Chashme Buddoor: The original starring the legendary pair of Farooque Sheikh and Deepti Naval, also had Rakesh Bedi and Ravi Baswani in supporting roles. The comedy centres around three friends Siddharth (Farooque Sheikh), Omi (Rakesh Bedi) and Jai (Ravi Baswani), and what happens when a girl Neha (Deepti Naval) comes into the lives. Incidentally, the digitally restored version of the 1981 film also releases on the same day as the remake April 5.
Did you know? The washing power Chamko used in the ever-popular scene in the film was actually a brand available in the market at that time
Khubsoorat: Another Hrishida classic, this one had Rekha in one of her most adorable roles. As the vivacious Manju Dayal, who teaches a family how to break all unwanted shackles and enjoy life, Rekha won the hearts of the audiences.
Did you know? Rekha won her first Best Actress Award for her performance in this film
Khatta Meetha: Basu Chatterjee's 1978 film on remarriage of elders is relevant as ever, even today. Homi Mistry (Ashok Kumar) is a Parsi widower with three sons Nargis Sethna, (Pearl Padamsee) is a widow who also has grown-up kids. They both decide to get married in an endeavour to find emotional support, but children from both sides find this difficult to accept. How they manage to become one forms the crux of the story.
Did you know? Ranjit Chowdhry, who plays Ashok Kumar's son Russie Mistry in the film is actually the son of late Pearl Padamsee while Preeti Ganguli played Freni Sethna (Pearl's daughter in the film) was Ashok Kumar's daughter in real life
Rajnigandha: Basu Chatterjee's film based on the book Yahi Sach Hai was a mature take on a woman, Deepa Kapoor (Vidya Sinha) who is on the verge of getting married to her love Sanjay (Amol Palekar), but her emotions fluctuate when she reconnects with her ex Naveen (Dinesh Thakur).
Did you know? Both Palekar and Sinha made their Bollywood debuts with this film
Chhoti Si Baat: A romantic comedy about a shy young man Arun Pradeep (Amol Palekar), who seeks the help of one Colonel Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh (Ashok) to try and win over a girl he likes Prabha Narayan (Vidya Sinha), Chhoti Si Baat is considered among the best comedy films of Indian cinema.
Did you know Amitabh Bachchan makes a two-minute appearance in this film. He is dressed in a costume from the film Zameer (1974). Both Zameer and Chhoti Si Baat (1975) were produced by B. R. Chopra
Chitchor: A romantic musical, the film is a simple love story that blossoms over a case of mistaken identity. Geeta (Zarina Wahab) and her father Pitamber Chaudhri (A. K. Hangal) are awaiting the arrival of an engineer as a possible match for Geeta. Vinod (Amol Palekar), who is the overseer, comes to the place, and both father and daughter mistake him for the engineer. Geeta and Vinod gradually falling in love and the latter even teaches her to sing.
Did you know? Chitchor (1976) was Palekar's third film in Bollywood, and third hit in a row. All the three films were directed by Basu Chatterjee -- Rajnigandha (1974) and Chhoti Si Baat (1975) being the earlier two.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron: Any praise for this dark satire is too less. The uproarious tale of two honest photographers Vinod Chopra (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir Mishra (Ravi Baswani), who end up becoming victims of rampant corruption in politics and bureaucracy of the country, remains relevant as ever in today's corruption-rotten society.
Did you know? Vidhu Vinod Chopra, after whom Naseer's character in the film is named, played Dushasana in the legendary Mahabharata climax scene. He was also one of the photographers in the first half of the film, where a group of journalists are conducting an interview.
Saath Saath: The film is the simple story of a normal youngster called Avinash (Farooque Sheikh), who is poor but has high self-respect, and aims to make the world an idealistic society to live in.
Did you know? The movie has unforgettable Ghazals by Jagjit and Chitra Singh 'Tum ko dekha to yeh khayaal aaya',' Ye tera ghar ye mera ghar' and 'Pyaar mujhse jo kiya tumne'
Kissi Se Na Kehna: Hrishikesh Mukherjee works his magic again, this time with the trio of Farooque Sheikh, Deepti Naval and Utpal Dutt. Kailash Pati (Utpal Dutt) wants a villager as a wife for his son Ramesh (Farooque Sheikh). Ramesh, however, is in love with a doctor Dr. Ramola Sharma (Deepti Naval). Ramesh manages to trick his father into believing that Ramola is uneducated, but is unaware of the turbulence that would follow in the household.
Did you know? Ketki Dave, who years later became popular as Daksha Virani in the TV show Kyunki..., had a brief role as Shyamoli in this film
Katha: One more classic offering from Sai Paranjpye, this one is Bollywood's version of the hare and tortoise folklore. Rajaram (Naseeruddin Shah), an honest, straightforward man is secretly in love with his neighbour Sandhya (Deepti Naval), but the fast-talking and unethical Bashudev (Farooque Sheikh) wins her over with his charms. How Rajaram wins back his love, slowly but steadily, forms the crux of the story.
Did you know? The movie that was shot in a chawl near Churchgate had Jalal Agha and Sarika making guest appearances as themselves
Shaukeen: This Basu Chatterjee-directed film has Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt and A.K. Hangal in uproarious form as three 3 lecherous men, who want to have some fun late in their lives.
Did you know? Rohit Roy, who was earlier supposed to direct the remake of the film, wanted Hangal for new version as well, but his wish remained unfulfilled after the veteran actor's demise.
Baton Baton Mein: Also a romantic comedy directed by Basu Chatterjee, the movie deals with the relationship between two youngsters Nancy (Tina Munim) and Tony Braganza (Amol Palekar), who travel in the same Mumbai local and end up falling in love, but complexities develop soon enough. How they overcome the same forms the core of the film.
Did you know? The film has evergreen songs like 'Na bole tum na maine kuch kaha', 'Suniye kahiye', and 'Uthe sabke kadam'.
Gharaonda: The movie follows the tale of two lovers Sudip (Amol Palekar) and Chaya (Zarina Wahab), belonging to the middle-class, who plan to get married and have an abode of their own. But all their plans go awry when the builder of the house in which they have invested commits suicide owing to financial problems. The film then takes a completely different turn, with both the lead characters displaying certain grey shades.
Did you know? Apart from writing the screenplay and lyrics, Gulzar was also the narrator of this movie.
Naram Garam: This Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie dealt with the story of Kusum (Swaroop Sampat) and her father (A. K. Hangal), who are homeless since they cannot repay their debts, and how they are helped by Ramprasad (Amol Palekar), who is in love with Kusum.
Did you know? Some characters in this film retained their names from Gol Maal. Thus, Palekar played Ramprasad and Utpal Dutt played Bhavani Shankar.
Rang Birangi: The comedy is about an entrepreneur Ajay Sharma (Amol Palekar), who starts ignoring his wife Nirmala (Parveen Babi) owing to excess workload. Ajay friend's Ravi (Deven Verma) is aware of Nirmala's frustration, and decides to make Ajay realise his mistake. The second half is pretty similar to 'Pati, Patni Aur Woh'.
Did you know? The movie is most remembered for Utpal Dutt's brilliant comic portrayal of Inspector Dhurindhar Bhatawrekar.
ADVERTISEMENT
