There have been many movies depicting a suspicious husband or wife leading to serious or hilarious consequences depending on the tone of the movie. Based on a Gujarathi play “Chakdhol,” Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar is a funny take on how a suspicious wife compels her husband to make up an imaginary story to save himself and the chain of events that follow. The movie is directed by Rajendra Bhatia.

---

The Plot

The film begins with a party scene. Sunil Mehta (Kiran Kumar) and his wife Geeta (Radha Saluja) arrive. Sunil meets Helen who behaves like an old acquaintance. This is enough to sow the seeds of suspicion in Geeta’s mind. Next day, Sunil leaves for office. He doesn’t come back in the evening. A worried Geeta goes to sleep waiting for his return. She dreams he is spending time with Helen totally ignoring Geeta’s presence. Time for a dream song Khilta hua shabab hai…

Geeta wakes up from her dream to find Sunil is still not home. Her sister Pinky (Arpana Choudhary) stays with her. Unable to sleep, she visits Pinky’s room and goes downstairs to wait on the sofa. Its almost morning. The Mehtas have an oversmart and unscruplous servant Ramji (I.S. Johar) whose habit is to keep making social commentary on current issues. Whenever he receives an order, his response is Main wohi toh karne wala tha. He has had enough of the Mehta family and is leaving them soon for a new employer.

Geeta asks Ramji if he has seen Sunil home yesterday night. He tells her no. He informs her indirectly that he is leaving them for a new employer and his new mistress may come and meet her for feedback on his conduct. An already suspicious Geeta misinterprets that Sunil is leaving her for a new mistress. Pinky comes down. Its her birthday and Geeta wishes her. She tells her about Sunil and the new mistress. Pinky calls Ramji and thankfully clarifies the matter. Pinky has a supposed to be fiance Captain Ranjit (Narendranath). For some reason, Sunil disapproves of Ranjit and leaves no chance to insult him.

Meanwhile Sunil comes home. Geeta cross questions him on his absence. Knowing her nature, Sunil knows she will not believe the truth. The simple truth is he was returning home when he saw a fun fair/exhibition. He visits the fair and takes a giant wheel ride. Unfortunately the machine develops a technical glitch and he has to spend the whole night suspended in the air. But there is a catch. Also stuck with him for company is a young woman (Manju Asrani). (He refers to her as “giant wheel lady.”) If Geeta comes to know about this, she will raise hell all over.

To get away from the situation, Sunil invents a not so convincing story. He tell Geeta that he met an old friend called Champak Bhumiya and spent the night at his house chatting about old times. Geeta further questions him and he has to invent a fake address – Boti Mansion, Damar Galli in Betegaon. Geeta is not convinced but allows him to go to their room. She books a telegram for Champak Bhumiya, requesting him to meet her as soon as he receives the telegram as her happiness is dependent on him. She also packs her bags in anticipation that Sunil is lying, the telegram will come back as the address was fake and she will go to her mom’s house. Sunil vents his feelings through a song Mujhe meri biwi se bachao.

Sunil comes down and asks Ramji for breakfast. The bell rings and unexpectedly, the “giant wheel lady” comes to meet Sunil. Apparently he has her sunglasses and she wants them back. But Sunil has gifted them to Pinky as a birthday gift. He asks the woman to meet him later.

The bell rings again. This time the visitor is Sunil’s old friend Amit Desai (Asrani). He has recently got married in Paris. His wife has come back to India. He was supposed to arrive 2 days later but managed to come earlier. However he doesn’t want to go to his home immediately. He wants to enjoy his last days of freedom before meeting his wife. A weird story which Sunil accepts and invites him to stay at his house.

Sunil informs Amit of the last night’s events and his fake story. He spots the telegram message and knows the cat will be out of the bag soon. Amit ponders and offers a solution. He will come to visit Geeta, posing as “Champak Bhumiya” and Sunil’s story will be validated. Luckily, Geeta has never met Amit. Sunil agrees. The only problem is Ramji who had opened the door for Amit. Through some bribing, Ramji becomes a part of the plan.

Thus, Amit arrives at the house again and meets Geeta. She is at first flustered to meet the man with the strange name and address. He tells her about his friendship with Sunil and how they spent the night chatting. And about his wife and 2 imaginary kids – Luv and Kush. Geeta is convinced and apologizes to Sunil about her actions.

Things are sorted. Its time to celebrate Pinky’s birthday through a song Happy birthday to Pinky. Amit helps to settle matters between Captain Ranjit and Sunil amicably. There is another song featuring Mehmood – Raat hai baat hai.

But there is a twist coming up. It appears in the form of a woman Motiya (Padma Khanna) who claims she is Champak Bhumiya’s wife. She confronts Geeta for sending the telegram and summoning her husband. Motiya leaves in a huff leaving Geeta feeling sorry for the situation she has created. Geeta tells Amit about his wife’s visit. Amit is confused and realizes there is indeed a real Champak Bhumiya and the address is real too. And that’s the reason the telegram did not return.

So we have the entry of the final character, a colorful Champak Bhumiya (Paintal) leading to more confusion. Things get complicated when the “giant wheel lady” visits again. She is none other than Amit Desai’s newly wedded wife and is upset to find him in Sunil’s house. Things get sorted when the truth comes out. All’s well that ends well.

The Music

Shankar Jaikishan and Hasrat Jaipuri share the honours. Mujhe meri biwi se bachao by Kishore Kumar is the stand out song.

My Thoughts

The movie manages to keep the viewer engaged and there are hardly any boring scenes. The situational comedy is good. Most of the cast are lesser known actors but do their job well. Asrani and I.S. Johar add flavour to their roles. There are guest appearances from Helen, Jayshree T and Mehmood in the songs. The songs could have been trimmed but well, that is the compulsion of a Hindi Movie.