'Baap re baap': From movies to politics, the 'baap' hold on many a discourse

New Delhi: If Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's "baap" boast in Bihar had a filmy flavour, there's a good reason for it.

Hindi cinema is replete with references and dialogues around the "baap" motif, the crown clearly belonging to "Shahenshah" in 1988: "Rishtey mein toh hum tumharey baap lagtey hain" uttered in the inimitable baritone of Amitabh Bachchan.

Bachchan, tall, gangly and embodying the ubiquitous angry young man, has referenced the word and the concept of 'baap' in many of his films.


Remember "Ye police station hai tumhare baap ka ghar nahi" that he uses to reprimand Pran's Sher Khan in 1973 film "Zanjeer". This was the film that first explored his angst-ridden persona, which solidified with "Deewar" and "Sholay" later. They were all the films written by Salim Khan-Javed Akhtar.

There was the tattoo, "Mera baap chor hai", written on his character Vijay's arm in the 1975 "Deewar". It propels his journey towards crime and the whole film is haunted by his desire to rectify that slur on his father.

Then there was "Agneepath" in 1990. It did not do well at the time of its release, but what kept it alive in public memory was Bachchan's dialogue.

In a key scene in a police station, the protagonist, Vijay again, is asked, "Naam kya hai tumhara?" Bachchan looks straight in the eyes of the cop and says famously, "Vijay Deenanath Chauhan... poora naam. Baap ka naam... Deenanath Chauhan. Maa ka naam... Suhasini Chauhan. Gaon... Mandwa. Umar... chhatees saal, nau maheena, aath din... aur ye solwan ghanta chaalu hai... haaye!"

In 2011, the tonality changed.

Bachchan played the central role in action-comedy titled "Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap".

In the 1973 hit "Jugnu", Dharmendra's thundering dialogue "Baap ke naam kaa sahara kamzor log lete hai" epitomised the aggression of the Hindi film hero.

Fast forward to 2023.

The word was used in another popular dialogue, starring Shah Rukh Khan in "Pathaan", which marked his comeback to the screen after a gap of almost eight years.

The dialogue, "Bete par haath lagaane se pehle baap se baat kar", brought whistles and cheers in the theatre as it not only packed in the context of the story but also the real-life struggle that Shah Rukh went through to get his son Aryan Khan out from jail in a case in 2021.

And now 'baap' emerged once again in real life on Sunday when Kharge's public meeting in Patna was interrupted by an audience member, who shouted that it is difficult to dislodge Modi from his position. An irate Kharge responded, "Modi ka baap bhi jayega", triggering a major political storm.

The BJP demanded an apology. The opposition dismissed it as just a common everyday expression.

From the movies it has percolated down to the streets. Take the arrogant Delhiite, who when confronted by a traffic cop, might ask: "Jaante ho mera baap kaun hai". There is also the more reverential reference to the patriarch: "baap baap hota hai".

Clearly, "baap", an informally used term for 'father', can mean different things in different contexts.

It can become the endearing 'bapu', or can also be used as a way to show one's privilege and power, and transitions into father-son equations through popular Hindi idioms such as 'Baap ek numbari to beta dus numbari' (also the title of a Hindi film and song), 'baap ser to beta sava ser' or 'baap re baap'.

Oral historian Sohail Hashmi says he cannot pinpoint when such expressions entered everyday conversations, but believes their use may date back to the origins of the language itself, given the patriarchal nature of society.

He observes that gendered abuse commonly targets the women in a person's family, particularly mothers, sisters and daughters, while insults questioning someone's parentage invoke the father.

"Such expressions, often used in the heat of an argument, have become commonplace in everyday conversation and are rarely taken literally. For instance, expressions such as 'ullu ka pattha' and 'gadhe ka bacha' are part of colloquial speech, with parallels also found in older literary references," he said.

They are, of course, not meant to be taken literally.

Hashmi added that familial insults are not unique to the region, noting that similar forms of profanity and slang have long existed in Victorian and American English.

Asked about Kharge's remarks that have triggered a barrage of criticism from the BJP, Congress leader Tharoor said, "I think people in our country have a habit of exaggerating the whole drama and all of this. Kharge sahab said something, the meaning is very clear of what Kharge sahab intended, and I don't think we should need to make a big song and dance about it."

"He obviously was just using a common expression. He was not insulting anybody's father," Tharoor told reporters.