By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On His Birth Anniversary
Paresh Rawal, the subject of this write up, worked as an actor, comedian & villain in Hindi & Telugu films. Comedy & villainy have been his forte ever since he entered the Hindi cinema. ‘Hera Pheri’ (2000),directed by Priyadarshan, tells the story of three youngmen & their struggle in life. ‘Golmaal: Fun Unlimited’ (2006), ‘Chup Chup Ke’ (2006) & ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ (2007) are said to be his best film in a comic role as per reviews made by cinegoers.
Rawal gave some of his thumping performances in Telugu films as a Villain more notably Ramgopal Varma’s Telugu hit ‘Kshana Kshanam’ (1991) starring Venkatesh, Sridevi, Paresh Rawal, Rami Reddy & Jack Gaud.) The film begins with a bank loot leading o so many twists & turns also involving Sri Devi whom Venkatesh saves. Paresh Rawal plays a comic villain & wins the viewers heart. ‘Money Money’ (1994), is another film produced by RGV feturing Rawal in a villanous role also starring J. D. Chakravarthy, Chinna, Jayasudha, & Renuka Shahane. ‘Govinda Govinda’ (1994)and ‘Shankar Dada M.B.B.S.’ (2004) starring Chiranjeevi, Sonali Bendre, Girish Karnad and Paresh Rawal was another notable film of the actor under reference.
Despite his best performances, the actor is believed to be underrated. Neverthless, the actor won many accolades telling story of his success in films as a performer. He won National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in “Woh Chokri” & Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role in film “Sir”(1993) featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Pooja Bhatt & Atul Agnihotri. The film shows rivalry between Rawal & Gulshan Grover playing gangsters.
It would be injustice if we did not mention his film “Sardar”, a biographical drama film on freedom fighter Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, directed by Ketan Mehta. It won National Film Award for Best Film On National Integration. In Rajkumar Hirani’s “Sanju” he plays Sunil Dutt .He plays actor Sunil Dutt’s role in the movie featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Manisha Koirala & Vicky Kaushal.
It was the 1986 blockbuster ‘Naam’ (1986) which saw him rise as an actor of class. ‘Roop ki Rani Choron Ka Raja’, ‘Kabzaa’, ‘King Uncle’, ‘Ram Lakhan’, ‘Daud’, ‘Baazi’, ‘ Gupt’, & ‘Chachi 420 established him as an actor-cum- villain with great talent. The actor married Swaroop Sampat, an India film & TV actress who won the ‘Miss India (1979) contest and represented the country at Miss Universe pageant held in Perth, Australia. Rawal later joined BJP & won with a huge margin to become an MP, Lok Sabha between 26 May 2014 to 23 may 2019.
I met the comic villain at Natraj Studios in Mumbai. On seeing me he said with a hint of sarcasm “What is your measurement”, with a villainous smile lurking around his face. He was repaid in the same coin. I later interviewed a Punjabi actress, whose film had won a National Award in early 1980s. She wanted her grievance to be redressed which I did later, writing an article in a Punjabi daily published from Jalandhar, which had earlier carried an article against her, on my return to Jalandhar where I was posted at that time.
Bestowed with Padma Shri in 2014, National & Filmfare Awards. Received no less than 11 Nominations as a villain, actor & comedian.
Born this Day in 1954.
