Bawarchi

Bawarchi (translation: The Chef) is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language musical comedy drama film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and produced by Mukherjee himself along with N.C. Sippy and Romu N. Sippy. Released in India on 7 July 1972, the film stars an ensemble cast of Rajesh Khanna, Jaya Bhaduri, Asrani, Harindranath Chattopadhyay, A.K. Hangal, Durga Khote, Manisha, Kali Banerjee, Usha Kiran and Raju Shrestha. The film was ranked the eight highest-grossing film of the year 1972. In an interview, Khanna quoted "In Bawarchi, I did exactly the opposite of what Hrishida had made me do in Anand (1971). He allowed me to interpret the role and perform my way. I had done enough intense roles, and Bawarchi gave me the opportunity to interpret and perform the role the way I wanted. So I let myself go."

Mukherjee's style here is typical, in that the film contains no violence, and focuses rather on "the milieu of the Indian middle-class who have larger-than-life foibles and whose major concern is to survive the day [...:] which bahu will cook, which brother will use the bathroom first, who will get up first to make the morning tea, [etc.]" Khanna won his second BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) for his performance in this film.