How often have we heard the stars mouth platitudes like ''Its not the length of the role which matters but the meat in it'' But isn’t it a fact that given a choice, they would all rather play the lead than the fringe character.
Which brings me to this big question of how important is the ''supporting role''
in today's movies? At a time when very few stars seem to be able to carry off a movie entirely on their own shoulders, film makers need to wake up to the fact that movies need to have strong supporting characters. We call them by different names - side hero/heroine (not sidey though), supporting actor/actress...I prefer to call them cameos.
By definition a cameo is a brief appearance registering significant impact.Tweaking it a bit, my very simplistic interpretation of a cameo would be any role which isn’t that of the protagonist or the antagonist that provides significant thrust to the plot.
I haven't watched a lot of the golden oldies and my interest in Hindi Cinema started after the Amitabh Bachchan era. Taking this into consideration, I have tried below to list down 10 of my favorite ''cameos'' in the last 10. Here they are in no particular order
1. Mukesh Rishi in SARFAROSH:
Breaking free from his usual baddie roles, Mukesh plays Inspector Salim, an honest cop, who resents the fact that he is constantly called upon to prove his ''patriotism'' just because he happens to be a Muslim. Mukesh delivers a standout performance be it expressing his angst or pain. There are quite a few scenes where he steals the show right under Aamir's nose! Amazing screen presence, lovely voice, perfect dialogue delivery - Simply WOW !
2. Atul Kulkarni in HEY RAM:
Yes, I know.. It’s a highly forgettable movie wot with Kamal Hassan
going overboard trying to push himself onto every frame in the screen but pls give the devil its due. The man knows how to cast and wasn’t I impressed ?
As Shriram Abhyankar, a Hindu fundamentalist spouting venom through his fiery speeches against Gandhi, Atul was simply magnificent! The scenes where he passionately explains his ideology and manages to brainwash Saket Ram against Gandhiji are simply masterpieces ! With his background in Marathi theatre, it was no surprise that he overshadowed even Kamal in quite a few sequences. Truly a remarkable performance !
3. Nasser in ROJA:
Mani Ratnam is a master when it comes to creating understated characters. While Arvind Swamy & Pankaj Kapur battle on and Madhu shouts herself hoarse trying to get ppl to help her, Nasser as the conscientious yet helpful army man calmly goes about trying to rescue her husband without compromising and releasing the nabbed terrorists.
To act is difficult (judging by our Aftabs, Sanjay Kapoors), to react is even more difficult. Watch out for the scene when Nasser confronts Madhu on hearing that the Govt: has accepted the exchange deal. Watch out again when Nasser tries to fix Madhu an appt: with the Home Minister. In fact, watch out for Nasser in every frame he appears in. He's dynamite !
4. Jackie Shroff in RANGEELA:
So much has been written abt Aamir's performance in that memorable tapori role but I still maintain that Jagguda beat him hands down ! Playing a superstar RAJKAMAL, critics sneer that Jackie didn’t have to act much, he just had to be himself. But surely he came across as more than just suave, dapper and refined.. Silence they say is eloquent and Jagguda was an able foil to the often annoyingly brattish Aamir. Be it the scenes where he fondly speaks abt Mili to his
secretary/mentor or the scene where he watches Mili's screen test, Jagguda was simply remarkable. pssssst: Mili must have been nuts to have chosen Munna over Rajkamal.
5. Mohanlal in COMPANY:
This was one role that stayed clear of quite a few stereotypes - Cops in khaki perennially, cops and ear shattering, lung splitting shouts, Cops and daredevil stunts, Cops - all brawn no brain....Mohanlal as the cool n tactically smart cop Sridharan, playing mind games with the underworld is simply brilliant. Turning his obvious discomfiture with Hindi to an advantage, LAL is absolutely natural be it sermonizing or mouthing cracking one liners. A fabulously underplayed performance this !
6. Sunny Deol in DAMINI:
whoa ! ''This dude can act'' was my first reaction when I saw DAMINI years after its release ! I have always had this thing against LOUD performances - LOUD as in VOCAL but this was one occasion where I think it was called for and Sunny was simply outstanding ! The powerful dialogues and the intense court room scenes were just the ideal platform for Sunny to showcase his histrionics and I must admit
that he came up trumps. As the brilliant drunken lawyer Govind, Sunny managed to leave an indelible mark coming second best only to the script. Super duper effort!
7. Anil Kapoor in TAAL:
I am sure all of u will agree with me that Anil is probably one of the most versatile actors we have today. MAN FOR ALL ROLES - MAN FOR ALL SEASONS ! He is sincere in all his performances and it shows. What has kept him going all these years has been the fact that he constantly re-invented himself.
In TAAL, as the pompous, irreverent and street smart music director VIKRANT KAPOOR, Anil effortlessly gets the audience to sit back, empathize and actually chuckle at the character's total disregard for ethics. He comes as a whiff of fresh air to a movie which till then is full of style and no substance. Undoubtedly, it helped that he had an author backed role and some rollicking one liners but still it was Anil's show all the way after his entry just before the interval. Trivia: GOVINDA turned down this role before ANIL got it.
8. Salman Khan in HUM DIL DE...
I know I am gonna receive a lot of flak for this but what the heck.. Its my list after all :-) The first half in this movie was supposed to be breezy and extremely romantic and none can argue that Sallu did weave magic - be it the ''AANKHON KI'' song, the family dinner sequence where he sings for the first time or the burping incident. Even after the intense, brooding Ajay comes in and wins the sympathy of the audience, Sallu does manage to hold his own in the climax. As I have always
maintained , Sallu is a director's actor ! First rate performance this one !
9. Sushant Singh in THE LEGEND OF BHAGAT SINGH:
Yes, it was an author backed role but u just have to see the other Bhagat Singh movies to appreciate the difference. As Sukhdev, Bhagat's pal and co-conspirator, Sushant was simply outstanding. Check the court scene where he reacts on hearing that one of their own has betrayed them, the jail scenes when they refuse to drink water/eat food, the SARFAROSHI song and also the lighter scenes when he teases Ajay about Amrita !! Top notch performance !
10. Om Puri in CHACHI 420:
As usual it was difficult zeroing in on the last but i'll settle for OM PURI as the cellular totting secretary of Amrish Puri in this laff riot directed by the incomparable Kamal Hassan !
Phew , I am done at last ! Of course, reasons for my choices were shorter towards the end and my apologies coz I was getting tired ! This is MY list :-) and ur choices might NOT match mine but pls do rate n comment and mention ur choices too!
