Baabul (2006 film)

Baabul is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language drama film, directed by Ravi Chopra. The movie stars Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, John Abraham, Hema Malini and Rani Mukherji. It celebrates B. R. Chopra's 50 years in cinema, though it was unsuccessful at the box office.

Plot
Balraj Kapoor (Amitabh Bachchan) is a rich businessman, happy and content with his world. He and his wife Shobhna (Hema Malini) wait for their only son Avinash a.k.a. 'Avi' (Salman Khan) to return from his studies in the United States. After seven years, Avinash completes his education, comes back to India, and joins his father's business.

Avinash meets Malvika a.k.a. 'Millie' (Rani Mukherji) and the two fall in love. Millie tells her childhood friend Rajat (John Abraham) that she loves someone, which devastates him as he is also in love with her. He asks Avinash to keep her happy.

Avinash and Millie get married and have a baby boy they name Ansh. A couple years later, during Ansh's birthday party, the family waits for Avinash to get home from a business trip but he died in a road accident, leaving Millie devastated.

Balraj seeks to bring happiness back into his widowed daughter-in-law's life. He contacts Rajat in London, informs him of Avinash’s death, and asks him to marry Millie upon learning of Rajat's feelings for her. Rajat meets Ansh and bonds well with him. However, there is stiff opposition from Shobhna and Balraj's conservative older brother Balwant (Om Puri). Shobhna fears losing her grandson Ansh while Balwant takes the traditional view that a woman marrying twice is a sin. However, Balraj stands firm and convinces everyone.

In the end, Rajat and Millie get married, and everything is well. Avinash comes as a spirit and blesses his dad with happiness.

Cast

 * Amitabh Bachchan as Balraj Kapoor, a rich businessman who shares a strong bond with his son Avinash. After Avinash dies, he is willing to seek happiness in his daughter-in-law Millie’s life once again by getting her married to Rajat.
 * Salman Khan as Avinash Kapoor, he is Balraj and Shobhna’s only son who shares a strong bond with his father referring him as “Buddy”. He joins his father’s business firm and becomes a businessman as well. He is the husband of Millie and the father of Ansh. He dies in a car accident causing Millie to fall through depression.
 * John Abraham as Rajat Verma, he is Millie’s childhood friend who is also in love with her. After Avinash’s death, he is sought out by Balraj to bring happiness into Millie’s life again and marry her.
 * Rani Mukherji as Malvika "Milli" Kapoor (nee Talwar), an aspiring artist who becomes Avinash’s wife and is the mother of their son Ansh. She goes into a deep depression after Avinash dies and misses him very much.
 * Hema Malini as Shobhna Kapoor, Balraj’s wife, Avinash’s mother, Millie’s mother-in-law, and Ansh’s grandmother.
 * Om Puri as Balwant Kapoor, Balraj’s older brother who is strictly bound by old ways of marriage and is very religious. In the end he realizes his folly and gives his consent to Millie and Rajat's marriage.
 * Sarika as Pushpa Kapoor, Balraj and Balwant's widowed younger sister-in-law who has always been looked down upon by Balwant for being a widow.
 * Aman Verma as Shobhna's brother
 * Parmeet Sethi as Khushi Kapoor, Balwant's son
 * Sharat Saxena as J Talwar, Malvika's father
 * Smita Jaykar as Suman Talwar, Malvika's mother
 * Rajpal Yadav as Paanchi, the Kapoor Household servant and chauffeur
 * Shriya Saran (Cameo)
 * Vaishnavi Mahant

Music
The music is composed by Aadesh Shrivastava. The soundtrack has 11 songs. The soundtrack was one of the most successful soundtracks of 2006.

Box office
Baabul opened in Mumbai with occupancy of about 75%, considered remarkably low for a Salman Khan-starrer, and occupancy went downhill very quickly, presumably due to unfavorable word-of-mouth. In the rest of the country, even the opening was dismal and it never picked up. Eventually, the film was declared a flop. The small centres opened to poor response and overall the film did not do quite well in India but was an above average grosser. However, it did great business overseas, entering at the 8th position on the UK charts in its first week. It was a big hit in the overseas market.

Critical response
The Times Of India gave a 3/5 rating, saying, "The problem with Baabul is its first half- completely dead and totally listless. Samrat Sharma of Fullhyderabad.com wrote: "It's a film made for the more traditional generation or social class, and even so, while may not be terribly effective, it is sufficiently well-crafted..." Namrata Joshi of Outlook India gave the film 2 out 4, writing "Despite the failings in his character, Big B lends it gravitas and dignity. But his self-conscious cute couple act with Hema Malini is irritating. Time to get over Baghban.

Awards
Nominated


 * 52nd Filmfare Awards: Best Supporting Actor – John Abraham