Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Govinda's Raja Babu, now in Bengali!

June 06, 2005 21:09 IST

The plot of Mayer Raja is similar to the Govinda-starrer Raja Babu.

Jishu Sengupta is a pampered boy whose mother (Rupa Ganguly) blindly supports whatever he does. He is also named Raja, which shows a lack of imagination on the scriptwriter's part (The central character of Raja Babu is also Raja).

If he wants money, his mother convinces his father, Shankar Narayan Chowdhury (Ranjit Mallik), to give him money. If he does any wrong, his mother always defends him.

The opening sequence of the film is rather funny. Raja and his father are having breakfast. Raja's father chokes on his food. Alarmed, Raja's mother makes Raja drink a glass of water. His father is surprised. She explains it was only to prevent Raja from choking on his food; since Shankar Narayan has already choked on his, it was too late for preventive measures.

More on rediff.com!


Saif: I was always a star

Hrithik's doing fine, thank you

Abhijeet Sawant answers you


Raja is nearly illiterate because he has never been too interested in studying. But he has a noble soul. He takes money from his father to help the downtrodden and the village club. He has a comic sidekick (Subhashish), whose antics get unbearable at times. Their favourite pastime is to dress up like cops and circle around town.

Rituparna stars as Tithi, a graduate who gets into trouble when her car breaks down. To add to her woes, she is troubled by drunken goons. Of course, Raja rescues her and instantly falls in love.

Meanwhile, Raja's parents are busy arranging his marriage.

The story is formulaic. It has its share of songs with silly lyrics and poor music. For example, the first song is about what came first --  the chicken or the egg!

Rituparna looks old, and does not complement the youthful Jishu; she looks more like his mother.

Jishu, on the other hand, does a good job. He is rather entertaining in the comic scenes.

Overall, the film is enjoyable. If one leaves one's brains at home while watching this movie in the theatre, one may find it entertaining. 

Which only leaves one question unanswered: Why do Bengali filmmakers depend on Hindi money-spinners for a plot?

TB