Amitabh Bachchan reacts as stand-up asks why he kept Karva Chauth fast, questions his film choice: ‘If all of your kids turned out bad…’

He added, “When all your four kids turned out to be bad in the film. What was our mistake? We have been bearing the brunt of it for so many years.”

Harsh jokes about how Big B’s character keeping a fast on Karwa Chauth has since been used by many women to pressure their partners into observing the fast, “Why did you keep a fast on Karwa Chauth in the film? Now all the males in the country are tense. When we refuse to keep the fast, women tell us that ‘if Amitabh Bachchan can keep the fast, tum kis khet ki muli ho?(Then who are you?)’ We have to make them understand that Amitabh kept the fast only till the time the camera was rolling and after the cut he had started eating fruits.”

The 2003 film Baghban, directed by Ravi Chopra and co-written and produced by BR Chopra, follows the story of an elderly couple, Raj (Amitabh Bachchan) and Pooja (Hema Malini), who have been married for 40 years. After Raj’s retirement, they meet their four sons to decide who will look after them. However, none of the sons agree to take responsibility for both parents, forcing Raj and Pooja to live apart.

The film became something of a cultural moment in India and still leads to memes and comments on social media. Aman Verma, who played one of the sons in the film, had told SCREEN earlier, “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?‘”

His co-star Samir Soni added, “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.”