Bollywood in the ‘90s was full of stereotypes. The mother-in-law was evil personified, the sister-in-law was evil-trained and could take her place at short notice if required, and depending upon the story, the father-in-law would be a mute spectator or an abettor. There were multiple references to dowry and greed for money.
In “Ghar Ho To Aisa”, Meenakshi Seshadri’s Seema is an educated, rich, no-nonsense woman. Her poor friend from college Sharda (played by Deepti Naval) gets married into a family where the mother-in-law Durga (played by Bindu) and sister-in-law Kanchan (played by Rita Bhaduri) torture her. Durga has perfect control over her husband Ramprasad (played by Saeed Jaffrey), and her elder son. Sharda’s husband and Durga's elder son Vijay (played by Raj Kiran) is a bully who cannot stand up to his mother, and he proceeds to have an extra-marital affair. The affair receives full support from his parents and sister. Kanchan’s husband Bajrangi (played by Kader Khan) is a ghar-jamai and he is a mute spectator who doesn’t dare say anything against his shrewish wife.
In “Ghar Ho To Aisa”, Meenakshi Seshadri’s Seema is an educated, rich, no-nonsense woman. Her poor friend from college Sharda (played by Deepti Naval) gets married into a family where the mother-in-law Durga (played by Bindu) and sister-in-law Kanchan (played by Rita Bhaduri) torture her. Durga has perfect control over her husband Ramprasad (played by Saeed Jaffrey), and her elder son. Sharda’s husband and Durga's elder son Vijay (played by Raj Kiran) is a bully who cannot stand up to his mother, and he proceeds to have an extra-marital affair. The affair receives full support from his parents and sister. Kanchan’s husband Bajrangi (played by Kader Khan) is a ghar-jamai and he is a mute spectator who doesn’t dare say anything against his shrewish wife.
Sharda receives support mainly from her brother-in-law Amar (played by Anil Kapoor). Seema gets married to Amar, and then proceeds to teach Durga and Kanchan the lesson of their life.
I was less than 10 years of age when I watched this movie, and remember being very impressed with Seema for standing up to her husband’s evil family. I also wondered as to why Sharda didn’t make a similar attempt.
Luckily, Seema and Amar remain married towards the end of the movie and therefore justify the title of the movie. Till date, real life doesn't mirror Bollywood and what one can wish for is Ghar Na Ho Aisa.
The movie is so old that it is freely available on YouTube. At 2:01:51, a scene starts where Kanchan and Durga plot to burn Seema’s hand. Watch how she thwarts their plan, and takes revenge of behalf of her friend.
I was less than 10 years of age when I watched this movie, and remember being very impressed with Seema for standing up to her husband’s evil family. I also wondered as to why Sharda didn’t make a similar attempt.
Luckily, Seema and Amar remain married towards the end of the movie and therefore justify the title of the movie. Till date, real life doesn't mirror Bollywood and what one can wish for is Ghar Na Ho Aisa.
The movie is so old that it is freely available on YouTube. At 2:01:51, a scene starts where Kanchan and Durga plot to burn Seema’s hand. Watch how she thwarts their plan, and takes revenge of behalf of her friend.
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