Baghban and its obscure intimidation

 

I thank to God that I didn’t watch Baghban with my parents because, as it is, Indian parents! need I say more? 

Baghban is an antithesis of Dear Zindagi, the latter being about how children are a product of parents’ own wishes, not something to use and throw off. It showed how parents are unaware of their duties as parents, and should take into account all that their child wants. They have responsibilities towards every human being they bring into life. Indian parents may not approve of every aspect of Dear Zindagi, because they come from a generation where parents used to be shown as gods and goddesses and it was always the children’s fault. There is a fine gap between that generation and this one, and Baghban fills out that gap. 

Baghban is mostly about generation gap, besides anything else. Hema Malini and Amitabh Bacchhan both make such parents as today’s generation would see as orthodox, conservative, and narrow-minded, making come across as being intimidating whom no child would want to live with. Generation gap makes things difficult at times. I could not place myself as being their child. I felt the lack of freedom of expression, because just like the parents portrayed in it, the film in itself was so dictatorial and domineering I felt I would be wronged if I tried to express my views against it. 

When I told my mother about it, she was of the opinion that films are a reflection of society; Baghban showed what people at the time thought and did, it’s different nowadays. I gave a sigh of relief.