''Baton Baton Mein'' () is a 1979 Indian

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film, produced and directed by

Basu Chatterjee Basu Chatterjee (10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter in Hindi Cinema. Through the 1970s and 1980s, he became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema filmmaker ...

. The film stars

Amol Palekar Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema. Early life and education Palekar was born to Kamlakara and Suhasini Palekar in a Marathi language, Marathi speaking middle-class family ...

and

Tina Munim Tina Ambani (née Munim, born 11 February 1957) is an Indian former actress. She is married to Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Group. Personal life Tina Munim was born on 11 February 1957. She graduated high school in 1975 from the MM Pupi ...

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

Pearl Padamsee Pearl Padamsee (1931 – 23 April 2000) was an Indian theatre personality as a stage actress, director and producer of English language theatre in Mumbai active in 1950s–1990s. She acted in a few Hindi and English language films, including ' ...

Asrani Govardhan Asrani (born 1 January 1941), known popularly by mononym Asrani, is an Indian actor and director whose Bollywood career has spanned over five decades. He has acted in over 350 Hindi films. Asrani has played the lead roles, character ...

and Ranjit Choudhary appear in supporting roles. The film's music is by

Rajesh Roshan Rajesh Roshanlal Nagrath (born 24 May 1953) is an Indian music director and composer. He is the son of music director Roshan and brother of actor, producer, director Rakesh Roshan. Career Rajesh Roshan had a frequent successful collaboratio ...

Plot

Rosie Perreira is an overly anxious widow, living with her violin-obsessed son, Sabby and a lovely daughter, Nancy whom she would like to marry a wealthy young man. Her brother and neighbour, Tom introduces a young eligible Tony Braganza to Nancy on the 9:10 AM Western Railway local train from

Bandra Bandra ( æːɳɖɾa is a coastal suburb located in Mumbai, the largest city of the Konkan division in Maharashtra, India. The area is located to the immediate north of the River Mithi, which separates Bandra from the Mumbai City district. It ...

Churchgate Churchgate (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʃəɾt͡ʃɡeːʈ is an area in the southern part of Mumbai, close to the Arabian Sea. The area is known for its unique architecture consisting of art deco style residential buildings, access to sportin ...

. Tom also asks Nancy to introduce Tony to Rosie, which she does. Rosie is initially apprehensive about him as he only drawing a mere Rs.300/- compared to Nancy's Rs.700/-, but soon changes her mind when she finds out that after his probationary period he will draw a monthly pay of Rs.1,000/-. Nancy and Tony are permitted to meet and both eventually fall in love. While Nancy has a past where she was betrayed by a boy whom she loved, she still likes Tony. Tony is hesitant, and this is what costs him Nancy's love, as Rosie feels that he will not come through with the marriage. And soon Rosie starts looking elsewhere for a son-in-law. Nancy does not like this, but she at first accepts her mum's wishes. Nancy and Tony have a fight and stop meeting each other on the train as well. When Tom learns about this, he speaks to Tony's father. Tony's father tells Tony that if he is still reluctant to make a commitment, he should tell Nancy about it. So Nancy and Tony meet each other and Nancy tells him that she will never meet him again. It is then that Tony feels that he actually loves Nancy and cannot live without her. Then Nancy also confesses her love for him and they marry.

Cast

as Tony Braganza *

as Nancy Pereira *

as Francis Fernandes *

as Tom Uncle *

Leela Mishra Leela Mishra (1 January 1908 – 17 January 1988) was an Indian actress. She worked as a character actor in over 200 Hindi films for five decades, and is best remembered for playing stock characters such as aunts (''Chachi'' or ''Mausi''). She ...

as Philomena Aunty *

as Rosie Pereira * Arvind Deshpande as Mr. Braganza * Piloo J. Wadia as Mrs. Braganza *

Ranjit Chowdhry Ranjit Chowdhry (19 September 1955 – 15 April 2020) was an Indian character actor, known for his roles in television, movies, and theatre. He appeared in two episodes of ''The Office'', as Vikram, a telemarketer who worked with Michael, and w ...

as Sabby Pereira * Uday Chandra as Henry * Shobhini Singh as Hazel Pinto

Music

All music was composed by

and the lyrics were by Yogesh and Amit Khanna. The song "Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha" was adapted from the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

song "

When Johnny Comes Marching Home "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" ( Roud 6673), sometimes "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again", is a song from the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war. ...

Reception

In a retrospective review, Vijay Lokapally of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' praised the film's realism and stated that it "surely lifts your spirit". Writing for the ''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...

'', Sampada Sharma found the complications in Tony and Nancy's romance to be representative of present woes in modern relationships. Komal RJ Panchal of the ''Indian Express'' saw the film as a look at the daily lives of Mumbaiites and commended the non-stereotypical depiction of the Christian community in

References

External links

* {{Basu Chatterjee 1979 films 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Indian films Films directed by Basu Chatterjee 1979 romantic comedy films Films scored by Rajesh Roshan Films set in Mumbai