‘Sharmaji Namkeen’ Vs ‘Baghban’: The Evolution of the Parent-Child Dynamic

'Sharmaji Namkeen' looks at its protagonists through a lens of empathy and understanding.

The equation of aging parents and kids are explored very differently in Sharmaji Namkeen and Baghban,

(Photo Courtesy: The Quint)

Rishi Kapoor’s last film Sharmaji Namkeen, which also stars Paresh Rawal in the same role, explores the story of a man who follows his passion of cooking post-retirement. The film, among other things, traces how Sharmaji and his sons- the elder Rinku Sharma (Suhhail Nayyar) and the younger Vincy (Taaruk Raina) adjust to his retired life.

At one point, Sharmaji’s friend quips that Baghban should be included for ‘compulsory viewing’ in schools and colleges.

Both films, Sharmaji Namkeen and Baghban, explore similar themes- that of aging parents and their evolving relationships with their kids. But the depictions are poles apart. While Baghban is essentially an Indian parent’s villain origin story, Hitesh Bhatia’s film delves deeper into the generational gap and the idea of family.

Rishi Kapoor in and as Sharmaji Namkeen.

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

In Baghban, Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini play Raj and Pooja, the elderly parents to five kids – Aman, Samir, Saahil, Nasir, and Alok (who they adopted). The first four are painted as the villains in the film and the plot makes it awfully difficult to sympathise with them.

All the kids have families of their own and understandably can’t devote all their time to their parents but the story doesn’t allow for that nuance to be explored- Baghban focuses on the kids treating their elderly parents horribly, which they do. Their sons’ wives are all portrayed as women who don’t subscribe to the idea of the ‘Indian family’ that Raj and Pooja do, and that is somehow an inexcusable flaw.

A poster for the film Baghban.

(Photo Courtesy: IMDb)

Rishi Kapoor (or Rawal) as Sharmaji and Nayyar as Rinku are both struggling to maintain their autonomy, and their endeavors clash with the other’s. But neither is painted as a villain. Neither Sharmaji nor Rinku are actively trying to make the other's life harder- on the contrary, they’re trying to understand and help the other.

My parents would always tell me that the parent-child dynamic goes through an upheaval, and sometimes a sort of reversal as the years roll by. That’s a change that Sharmaji Namkeen delves into – Rinku is concerned about how his father affects his image with the quintessential ‘log kya kahenge?’ and Sharmaji refuses to wait for ‘permission’ to do what he wants to do. Towards the end, they both accept that they’ll have differences but they both decide to put their relationship above that.

Rishi Kapoor and Suhail Nayyar in a still from Sharmaji Namkeen.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/ @PrimeVideoIN)

Sharmaji Namkeen is a slice-of-life look at family and all their flaws (the non-toxic ones) and that’s one of the things that makes the film an important watch. The Baghban story is not an incredulous plot by any means- there are elderly parents all over the world abandoned by their children and there are several kids stuck in abusive families. If that was something the film had explored, it wouldn’t be as abysmal as it is.

Sharmaji Namkeen is streaming on Amazon Prime (and so is Baghban if you’re in the mood for a double feature).