PIKU
 

Dad: Bhaskor Banerjee (Amitabh Bachchan) 
Daughter: Piku (Deepika Padukone)
Piku: “Semi-liquid motion first, then two days of gas and constipation… what should I do? Yeh koi message hota hai office mein dene ke liye?” Baba: (plugging his hearing aid into his ear) “Hain?”
Shoojit Sircar’s May 8 film explores the equation between Piku and the father she almost has to mother, a quirky septuagenarian obsessed with his bowel movements. The fun trailer throws up some LOL moments between the two — all about gas and constipation — but also underlines the tender love they share. Especially when Piku tells Rana (Irrfan Khan) that the man marrying her would also have to “adopt her father”. “Woh mere pe dependent hain,” she tells him, simply.

I AM SAM

Dad: Sam (Sean Penn) 
Daughter: Lucy (Dakota Fanning)
Sam doesn’t allow his developmental disabilities to get in the way of forging a strong bond with daughter Lucy. The precious moments between the two — especially when they reverse roles and she is the one caring for him — define this critically acclaimed film. The scenes in the courtroom — where Sam pulls out all the stops to plead that he is fully capable of looking after his daughter — bring on the sniffles. The big lesson from I Am Sam? A parent doesn’t need full mental capacity — just a loving heart — to be able to care for his child.

KHAMOSHI

Dad: Joseph (Nana Patekar) 
Daughter: Annie (Manisha Koirala)
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s directorial debut was not only a moving tale of disability triumphing against all odds, but also a beautiful father-daughter relationship story. Annie’s life begins and ends with her deaf-mute parents, but it is with her dad Joseph that she shares a special bond. The fallout between the two when Annie decides to marry Raj (Salman Khan) highlights Joseph’s obsession for the daughter he wants to desperately cling on to. Joseph’s ‘mute speech’ at the end, when Annie lies in coma, is a memorable movie moment. 

FATHER OF THE BRIDE

Dad: George Banks (Steve Martin) 
Daughter: Annie (Kimberly Williams)
What does George Banks do when one day his 22-year-old “baby” daughter Annie tells him that she is about to marry the man she loves? Throw a fit! “This was the moment I’d been dreading for the past six months. Well, actually for the past 22 years,” George tells the camera. Unable to bear the thought of another man in his daughter’s life, George goes all out to sabotage the wedding, but finally realises that he’s meant to be the father of the bride. The dad-daughter scene we loved? George and Annie playing a game of basketball — like the ol’ times — the night before her wedding. In Part II, George finds himself in even bigger trouble — blindsided by Annie’s pregnancy and also realising that he’s about to become a dad... again!

CHEENI KUM

Dad: Omprakash Verma (Paresh Rawal) 
Daughter: Nina (Tabu)
The dynamic between Amitabh Bachchan and Zohra Sehgal — playing son and mom — may have been more fun, but it was the relationship between Nina and her Gandhian father Omprakash that had a lot more layers. When dad goes on a hunger strike to protest his 34-year-old daughter wanting to marry 64-year-old Buddhadev (AB), Nina doesn’t resort to any melodrama or blackmail — rather she lets him have his way, but holds on to her man all the while. And yet, she loves him enough not to marry without his consent.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Dad: Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) 
Daughter: Scout (Mary Badham)
The 1962 film based on the Harper Lee bestseller shows the heartwarming relationship between self-righteous lawyer Atticus and his two children, especially his daughter Scout. The dynamic between the two is very unconventional: she calls him by his first name, but he doesn’t tolerate her being rude to anyone.  Atticus doesn’t shy away from answering eight-year-old Scout’s tough questions. Like when she asks him about rape, he tells her that it is “carnal knowledge of a woman by force and without consent”. This, in the 1930s, the time in which the book is set.

KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI

Dad: Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) 
Daughter: Anjali (Sana Saeed)
Precocious Anjali had a lot to do in Karan Johar’s debut as director — sign up for summer camp, set up a meeting between dad Rahul and his college best bud Anjali (Kajol) and eventually get the two married. But what we loved the most? The fun relationship between dad and daughter. Remember that LOL scene where  an agitated Rahul doesn’t want to allow Anjali junior to go to summer camp and nearly walks out of the house without his pants on!

DEFINITELY, MAYBE

Dad: Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) 
Daughter: Maya (Abigail Breslin)
A father tries to make his impending divorce a tad easier for his young daughter by telling her how he met her mother (yes, they made a film on this too)! The moment we loved: When Will is about to reveal the “happy ending”, Maya asks him: “What is it?” “You,” he smiles. And she cries.

THE DESCENDANTS

Dad: Matt King (George Clooney) 
Daughter: Alex (Shailene Woodley)
The tenuous relationship between Matt and Alex — they find themselves thrown into the deep-end when they both learn that the mother of the house, who is in coma after a boating accident, was having an affair — gives way to a quiet and mutual understanding and respect — when they learn to accept what life has thrown at them. The last scene of the two watching TV on the couch and sharing ice-cream is heartwarming. 

DADDY

Dad: Anand Sareen (Anupam Kher) 
Daughter: Pooja (Pooja Bhatt)
Pooja Bhatt’s debut film — directed by dad Mahesh — about an alcoholic singer trying to reconnect with his daughter, tugged at the heartstrings. Marked by stellar acts from Kher and Pooja, Daddy was about a daughter supporting her dad against all odds. That last scene of Pooja calling Anand “Daddy” for the first time even as he tears up, remains memorable.
Special mention: Kher and Pooja’s father-daughter act in Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, especially that scene towards the end when he encourages her to run away from her own wedding! ROFL.