Watch Chhoti Si Baat For Free

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Waste of time

the audience applauded

Such a frustrating disappointment

Within a few minutes into the movie, every middle class guy will relate to every bit with their life. You have a crush on a girl of your dreams, and you cannot think of any possible way to woo her. On top of that there is another guy who is getting way ahead in the race. And he even got a bike ! (How cool is that !!)This film captivates you from the start. With its slow pace and awesome background score you'll never know when it ended. And you crave for more of it in the end.All leading actors shine brightly. And Ashok Kumar is a piece of cake to watch.

"Chhoti Si Baat", set in 1975, delivers a believable and realistic portrayal of the urban Indian working class. Basu Chatterjee, the film's director achieves the very same in his previous venture, the slightly more serious "Rajnigandha"(1974). Both films are quite similar in their basic aspects. They are love triangles and have the same lead pair playing almost identical characters - Amol Palekar (Arun) plays a mousy man whereas Vidya Sinha (Prabha) shines (even more so in Rajnigandha) as the girl next door as well as Arun's love interest. The film's music should be lauded for it adds to the endearing quality of the film. The picturization of Mumbai is all done in good taste. Asrani steals the show with his performance as Naagesh, the big thorn in Arun's path to Prabha's heart. Although certain aspects of Arun's training to court women are a tad too silly, these may be overlooked on account of the film's sheer charm. It's a classic tale of courtship with an generous helping of comedy.

The harsh truth of this cruel world is that simpletons lag behind in the race of life due to ditto traits of themselves. To win in the different races of life and get better of the opponents, a person has to shed the tag of being a simpleton and acquire the tag of being smart. Smartness counts everywhere, even in love. And that's the message of this comedy of the seventies.Chhoti Si Baat (trivial thing) is the story of a shy accountant - Arun (Amol Palekar) who is not smart and just too simple to find things his way. In the office of his company, his subordinates do not listen to him. His boss is not very happy with him. In his colourless life, his fascination towards Prabha (Vidya Sinha) is the only thing which enthuse him. She works in a neighbouring office (in Mumbai) and Arun loves her in his heart, seeing and deliberately coming across her in the most mundane situations of life. However his shyness and simplicity blocks his path whenever he has to express his feelings to her. Prabha knows it and discusses these things with her colleague, Deepa (Nandita Thakur). The shy and hesitant advances of the boy are a source of fun for Prabha. She likes him and wants him to express himself. Now comes the twist in the tale.Arun faces a rival for Prabha's companionship and love in the form of Naagesh (Asrani) who is oversmart more resourceful than Arun and now, our hero, i.e., Arun is struck by the fear to lose the bet called Prabha to Naagesh. The competition with annoying and irritating Naagesh, compels him to commit some silly errors and get cheated by a motor workshop owner. Finally, he takes a month long leave from his office and moves to Khandala where Col. JNW Singh (Ashok Kumar) lives whom he expects to play his troubleshooter. Col. Singh is not only a love-Guru but also a personality development expert. Under his tutelage and guidance, Arun's personality is groomed in the right direction. Now he is ready to take upon his rival, Naagesh as well as win his lady-love, Prabha.Here, in Mumbai, Prabha has got restless by not seeing Arun for so many days. That reveals that she also loves him but being a girl, has been expecting the boy to initiate the things. Arun's return fills her with joy. Now a smart and renovated Arun not only outwits Naagesh but also the cheating motor workshop owner, paying him and his gang in the same coin and sets the undisciplined subordinates in the office also right. Prabha is glad to see the change but she is apprehensive of his true intentions now. Col. Singh also arrives at Mumbai to check where this love-story is heading and whether his tuition has indeed helped Arun or not. In the climax, Arun does not go exactly according to the coaching of Col. Singh (which was not required also) and wins Prabha over through his original self only.This movie scores at several places and provides a feelgood experience to the watcher. It's a movie which most of the middle class Indians can relate to. It's a comedy but not meant for generating laughs only. It touches a chord in the viewer's heart at many places. While watching, the viewer effortlessly gets attached to Arun and starts praying for his ultimate success.This movie tickles, entertains and inspires all at the same time. The climax is toned down but it's always been the style of Basu Da to keep a low profile climax in his movies. Entertainment prevails throughout and there is no boring moment in the movie. It appears to be the love story of any ordinary youth and hence a layman can relate to it. It was made when the term Rom-Com was not used in the cine-circles. But it's an excellent rom-com with a perfect mix of comedy and romance. It's the simplicity prevailing in every nook and corner of this movie that goes deep into the heart of the viewer.Amol Palekar had mastered the art of playing a straightforward and simple hero having boy next door looks during the seventies and created his own fan-following. Chhoti Si Baat is one of his such kind of movies only with the role being a tailor-made one for him. He makes the viewer get attached to his smiles and sadness and his triumph in the end appears to the viewer as his own triumph in the battle of life and love. Vidya Sinha was the perfect choice for the girl next door kind of roles due to her simple middle class looks and natural acting in such type of roles. Asrani is marvellous like always. However the show-stealer is Ashok Kumar, the seniormost actor of Bollywood during that era. The script-writer and dialogue-writer have immensely helped this seasoned actor in delivering a memorable performance.Yogesh beautiful lyrics of high literary quality have been strung in heart-soothing melodies by Salil Choudhary. The best song is the title track - Na Jaane Kyun Hota Hai Ye Zindagi Ke Saath (Lata). Jaaneman Jaaneman Tere Do Nayan (Asha and Yesudas), Ye Din Kya Aaye Lage Phool Hanse (Mukesh) etc. are also unforgettable ones for the melody and literature lovers alike.The filmmakers of today can learn a lot from this classic rom-com as to how to make neat and clean family movies containing stories of laymen. I opine that a lady may lose her heart to a simpleton but she wants her man to be a simpleton for herself, not for the world because she can never tolerate the love of her life losing out to the others in different spheres of life.

I watched this movie today on TV. I thought it would be some old boring movie which will help me sleep. But as I saw, I couldn't stop watching it. It shows the reality of some shy guys, who are considered to be unsuccessful in their work and personal life. Amol Palekar's acting is natural, but it is Asrani & Ashok Kumar who really outperform. Asrani really impresses with his funny perplexed performance. Really a classic comedy, it is also a film which has thoughts or ideas ahead of it's time. It made me realise that, some Indian movies are really good and can be more authentic than we think. This movie comes first, then Hitch & then the Partner ;)