Father's Day Special: Bollywood's BEST Screen Dads. VOTE!

Here's celebrating the nicest pitaajis on screen!

We’ve seen all kinds of fathers in Hindi movies.

The ones who oppose their kid’s choice of girl/boy in marriage, the ones who lecture about parampara, pratishtha and anushashan, the ones who fail to understand what troubles their school-going kids, the ones who don’t have the guts to take responsibility of their love child, the ones who return as ghosts to protect (and sometimes) their brood and the ones who are sentimental, overprotective, strict, loony or troubled, the list is exhaustive.

Only it’s Father’s Day soon and we, at rediff.com, are celebrating the nicest pitaajis on screen (and off it).

So here it is, a fun look at 10 of Bollywood’s COOLEST daddies.

Don't forget to VOTE for your favourite at the end of this slide show.

Shah Rukh Khan, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

King Khan plays a hip and affectionate ‘Papa’ to his eight-year-old daughter (Sana Saeed) in Karan Johar’s directorial debut.

The duo shares a spunky camaraderie but what’s unique is his how his little princess uses all her resources to reunite his single dad to his best friend from college (Kajol) to KKHH’s happily-ever-after.

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In Mansoor Khan’s rehash of Kramer Vs Kramer, Aamir Khan starts off a busy young dad neglecting his school going son to become a successful playback singer.

It’s only after his disillusioned wife leaves them both to start anew, they begin to bond and look out for each other in what can only be described as an aww-inducing scenario.

Kamal Haasan does a Mrs Doubtfire with aplomb through the rib-tickling chaos of Chachi 420.

Desperate to stay close to his impish daughter after a bitter divorce from wife (Tabu), the actor volunteers to work in the latter’s paternal home masquerading as a well-meaning, elderly nanny.

He may play father to a married son (Abhishek Bachchan) but Amitabh Bachchan is unabashedly flirty and flamboyant as ‘Sexy Sam’ in Karan Johar’s glossy infidelity drama.

What’s cooler though is how he doesn’t lose his head on discovering his bahu’s (Rani Mukerji) carrying on with another chap instead counsels to go on and follow her heart.

His pitch-perfect portrayal of a middle-class Delhi teacher in Do Dooni Chaar marked a new beginning in Rishi Kapoor’s career.

The National Award winner is a joy to watch as a typical dad, inhabiting most homes, endeavouring to provide his children yet never too hard even when they disappoint.

Serious, sleazy, sloshed, Anupam Kher has played every variety of fathers on celluloid.

But it’s his indulgent, failure-celebrating Pops to Shah Rukh Khan in DDLJ and paranoid, goofy daddy to spoilt brat daughter Pooja Bhatt in DHKMN that we cannot get enough of.

Though he’s barely featured in two scenes of one of 2013’s biggest money-spinner, also the year he passed away unexpectedly following a cardiac arrest, Farooque Sheikh fills the frame with his characteristic warmth and rare sensitivity.

In Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, the actor plays a supportive father to Ranbir Kapoor’s free-spirited son in ways that’s both model and inspiring.

From Mughal-E-Azam to Ishaqzaade, falling in love with a person of one’s choice is a crime for most kids in Hindi movies.

Not when your dad’s Shashi Kapoor though.

In Kabhi Kabhie, he plays a super romantic father whose enthusiasm (and voice level) knows no bounds when he discovers his only son’s (Rishi Kapoor) in love.

That intrinsic paternal touch and tenderness distinguishable in Ashok Kumar’s persona comes through best while playing an ailing Jaya Bachchan’s helpless father in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Mili.

But before the gloom sets in, the father-daughter duo engage in their share of playful banter, you’d never be able to tell it’s all for the camera.

In contrast to most of the ‘softies’ we mentioned above, Utpal Dutt’s portrayal of the traditionalist pitaji is quite a grouchy eccentric albeit a completely adorable one.

And that’s why it’s pure pleasure to watch his jumpy antics around his theatre-loving daughter (Bindiya Goswami) and her frolicsome music teacher (Amol Palekar).