Baghban’s ‘nalayak bete’ Aman Verma, Samir Soni, Saahil Chadha, Nasir Khan speak up: ‘We are being cursed for last 20 years’

Read their accounts:

Aman Verma played Ajay, the son who never stood up for his mother

Aman Verma can’t believe that it’s been 20 years since Baghban released. He says, “I came to Mumbai in 1996 and in 4-5 years Baghban happened. I had done Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Khul Ja Sim Sim before the film. Till the time I got Baghban, I was somewhat struggling. The film had a lasting impact on everyone’s career. The songs “Meri Makhna” and “Holi Khele” are still played at weddings and festivals when I am around.”

Aman says that he still gets asked why he was such a “nalayak aulaad” in the film. He says, “It feels surreal that the film is still being talked about. Today, there are memes made and people still talk about it. Everyone keeps asking me ‘Aman ji, aap itni nalayak aulad kaise ho sakte the?‘”

Reminiscing his time spent shooting with Hema Malini on the set, Aman shares that it would break his heart that he had to shout at Hema’s character in the film.

“All my scenes were with Hema ji, and for me, she is somebody who we have grown up watching. She is the epitome of beauty and grace. And I had to shout at her, as most scenes were in that mode. After every scene, I would go and apologise to her. ‘Hema ji I am very sorry’. She knew it was my job and the nastier I was, it worked better for the film,” the actor shared.

Aman is now happy that the sons of Baghban are now looked with empathy by younger generation. He says, “Every 10 years, the generation is changing and the story will connect with you differently. As you grow older, you feel that this is not how it is done.”

Samir Soni as Sanjay, the son who couldn’t find time to fix his father’s reading glasses.

Samir questions how a son couldn’t find time to fix his father’s reading glasses. He shares, “I first said no to the film because I was not too convinced with the character but then Ravi (Chopra) ji insisted that I do the film and I had the maximum scenes with Amitabh Bachchan. So I didn’t think about the good and bad (in my character), I focused on the shoot and the experience was like a dream, I shot extensively with Bachchan sir. I understood the great person he is apart from the great legend he is as an actor. At that time we didn’t realise that we were a part of something so epic because we were just enjoying being in the company of these great actors.”

Samir shares that after the film released, there were people coming up to him to scold him for misbehaving with Amitabh.

He shares, “When the film released, I was just happy but the response we got was so unbelievable. I remember once an old lady coming up to me, in a mall, and I thought she recognised me after the movie and would say something nice but she came and scolded me for being a ‘very bad son, you’ve misbehaved!’ People were relating to Amit ji and Hema ji so much that we turned the bad guys overnight but that shows the success of the film, to have such a huge impact.”

Samir then shared how the film impacted the decision making process and financial planning of parents trying to secure their future and not depend on their children.

Sharing an anecdote, he says, “I was talking to a person at an insurance agency and he told me that after the film released, more senior citizens bought insurance policies. The film had such an impact that the older people were finally thinking about their future, they weren’t just thinking about their children.”

A meme inspired by Baghban. (source: MensXP)

There are memes on social media that now justify the sons’ actions and reimagine their plight. But Samir says the film was never made from the sons’ perspective. He says, “The film was made from the point of view of the parents. It was not as much about showing that the sons are bad, which they are, but they are showing the life from the perspective of the parents. If it was shown from the point of view of the sons and the responsibilities they have (in their personal and professional lives) then it would have been a different film.”

Saahil Chadha played Rohit, the son who couldn’t afford to take care of both his parents

Saahil describes shooting for Baghban as “one of the best times” in his career. He says, “My role was not that big but it was an important part of the film. I would reach the set early just to watch Amitabh sir act. The film was Hema ji’s comeback as Amitabh sir had already done Mohabbatein and KBC. She was so kind and so ravishing. While shooting for this family film, we all actually became one big family.”

 

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A post shared by Saahil Chadha (@saahilchadha)

Saahil also says that after his performance, “aaj bhi gaali padti hai”. He says, “I do a lot of events, and on a few occasions, I have been introduced as Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘nalayak beta’, but I take it as a compliment. I remember how my mom was in Canada with my sister when the film was released and she would feel very bad when people cursed the sons. She once heard someone say, ‘haai haai kitne bure bachche hai!’ and she would tell them, ‘mera beta aisa nahi hai’. She had suddenly become very defensive about me.”

Nasir Khan played Karan, the son who chose to house the family dog but not his parents

Nasir says he still gets scolded for choosing to live with the family dog instead of his parents in Baghban. Nasir shares, “Today, we have become parents, and I still get the same response, ‘tum sab kya bure bachche the’, and I tell them ‘bacche bure nahi hote toh picture acchhi nahi hoti na’.”

He says, “People still talk to us like we are the actual Malhotra sons. People’s tone changes when they talk to us — ‘acchha nahi kiya maa- bap ke saath tumne!’ I was in America when the film was released, and people would say what I was doing in the US after behaving so badly with my parents. Just after the film released, people did hold more angst against us because many parents have gone through that kind of pain to varying degrees, that’s just the cycle of life. Parents who watched the film when it was released are now grandparents; we were kids, we have become parents, so we know what the film meant. People don’t get angry now at us but the emotion remains the same. I am often told that I can face the same behaviour I doled out to my parents in the film.

“Today my daughters are 22 and 20. When they were in their early teens they watched the film. And they had the same reaction like the memes that we see today. That is natural. People who are defending the sons of Baghban on social media are today’s youth. It is not their parents who are writing it. I would like to see what they parents have to write, or I’d like to see what today’s youth writes on Baghban’s 50th anniversary, when they’ll be old. Today they are justifying the sons but will they do it when they are in their parents place?,” Nasir concludes.