Paresh Rawal @ 65: Underrated comedy roles he’s essayed

There are very few actors who have the gift of being able to shift from various genres and make it look so easy. Such is this performer who makes a terrific villain and at times a brilliant comedian.

30th May celebrates the birthday of the versatile actor Paresh Rawal. On this occasion BizAsiaLive.com will look at five of Rawal’s comedy roles that left the audiences in fits of laughter.

‘Teja/ Ram Gopal Bajaj’ from ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ (1994)
In this film Rawal played a double role, in fact the role of twins to be exact. One brother was a wealthy businessman who lived with his daughter Raveena while the other was a criminal named Teja who didn’t seem to be doing well for himself. Rawal did a great job of showing two different characters on screen. While Ram Gopal Bajaj is very disciplined and concerned about his time being wasted, his twin tries to make it big using his evil methods but thanks to his two clumsy sidekicks his plans always fail.

There were many famous dialogues in this film one of them being ‘Teja main hoon, mark idhar hai’ (I’m Teja, the mark is here). This one became one of those memorable dialogues thanks to Rawal.

‘Hasmukh Lal’ from ‘Judaai’ (1997)
Imagine a child asking you one question and then asking you another and then again. It’s pretty tiring right? Such is the situation for the poor people who encounter Hasmukh (Rawal) who has the habit of asking people a thousand questions. He even has a question mark marked on his forehead which shows how serious he takes his job of questioning people. There are many memorable scenes that take place in the film one such scene is when a doctor asks for directions and he begins his job of asking questions. In the end the poor doctor faints after being quizzed and wishes he had never asked the man for directions.

‘Gora Thakur’ from ‘Bulandi’ (2000)
The reason this character by Rawal is memorable is because of the habits his character has. The funny thing about Gora Thakur is that whenever he hears any news or gossip he has to share the news with someone immediately because if he doesn’t his stomach begins to swell up and he resembles a pregnant woman. The saying ‘you can’t keep anything in your stomach’ meaning you can’t keep a secret is the exact definition of Rawal in this film.

Also his scenes with the late Sadashiv Amrapurkar were hilarious as they played the bickering father and son. Gora wanted to know who his mother was but his father would never reveal the big secret and would often take advantage of this. His character brought a lot of comedy relief to the serious drama that took place within the film.

‘Baburao Ganpatrao Apte’ from ‘Hera Pheri’ (2000)
One of the roles that Rawal is most remembered for is of course this one. This character is so iconic that many memes have been created using scenes with Baburao Ganpatrao Apte and they are very funny. Rawal’s character was very straight forward and had the habit of letting the person in front of him know what he thought without a care. Although he seemed like a grouchy old man, at heart he was a good person.

Most people will remember the scene when he would be constantly receiving calls for a Devi Prasad at his garage. After repeatedly getting one call after another and tired of explaining that they’ve dialled a wrong number his sarcasm begins. His sarcastic remarks would have the viewers in stitches especially when he would begin to verbally abuse.

‘Gundya’ from ‘Chup Chup Ke’ (2006)
Gundya (Rawal) is a man burdened by his debts. With creditors on his case day and night things couldn’t get any worse for him, well this thought of his changes when he finds a young man on his boat unconscious. After rescuing the young man who he assumes is deaf and can’t speak he takes him to the police station after he is summoned by the police. Gundya is frustrated as the police say it is his responsibility to take care of the guy which he doesn’t want to as he can’t afford to feed another mouth yet he is stuck with him.

His scenes with Shahid Kapoor and Rajpal Yadav were quite hilarious. One such scene is when Kapoor’s character is wanting food so Gundya says to the shop keeper to give him boiled water and say that the egg has dissolved into the water. At other times Yadav who plays his sidekick would often annoy his boss which would also lead to some interesting conversations.

The team at BizAsiaLive.com wishes Paresh Rawal a very happy 65th birthday. Do stay with us for more features and news in the entertainment world.