Last year, we counted our favourite types of Bollywood dads — from the supportive types to the Amrish Puri types.
This year, we decided to look at our favourite Bollywood dads or father figures who are complex, modern and even feminist in some ways. While there are still sanskaari dad roles out there, even father roles are being written with a better eye for how actual family dynamics work.
Here are five of our faves.
1. Bhaskor Bannerjee in Piku
Amitabh Bachchan's Bhaskor was a lovely hypochondriac in Piku, but the heart of the movie — beyond mining nuanced family drama out of literal "shit talk" — was the dynamic between Bhaskor and Piku.
Bhaskor is a rather feminist father who proudly proclaims that his daughter is financially, emotionally and sexually independent! You don't often find a father that supportive of his daughter's agency.
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Bajrangi Bhaijaan may be the one movie that made me find Salman Khan endearing because he earned our sympathies as a father figure to the adorable moppet (Harshaali Malhotra) he was escorting back to Pakistan.
It's another cute example of the road trip movie as a genre where you can see a makeshift family unit come together.
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It's always nice to see a juicy and complex role father role, and Anil Kapoor is at his most nuanced in Dil Dhadakne Do. He's beleaguered by financial woes, nursing his anxiety in secret and steamrolling over his children's lives.
It's a convincing paternal arc from enabler to disrupter as he stands up for his daughter and breaks a cycle of dysfunction.
Wake Up Sid is underrated in general, but it's Anupam Kher's realistic portrayal that makes it a gem. Ram Mehra is used to giving Sid (Ranbir Kapoor) everything he wants — from paying his bills to getting him a car.
When he forces him to shape up, Kher earns our sympathies because he's like most dads who push you into growing up and leaving the nest.
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Mean Girls has its iconic line by Amy Poehler, "I'm not a regular mom. I'm a cool mom," and we thought that spirit also extended to the trying-too-hard Sam (Amitabh Bachchan).
Whether he's chasing after young blonde women or scoping out the affair between SRK and Rani's character, Sam is a pretty chill dad who's okay with his daughter-in-law seeking out her own happiness.
These are some of our fave Bollywood father types who shift our expectations and are pretty cool dads!
Main Image Photo Credit: Indian Express
Rumnique Nannar
Author
Rumnique Nannar is a new journalist with a passion for all things pop culture, film, and art. Rumnique was born in London, with a predilection for devouring English chocolate with her Vogue, ANOKHI, and Glamour magazines in tow. She is currently in her Journalism Masters at UBC. Connect ...
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