Despite being the second fiddle, Priyanka Chopra’s Kashibai eclipsed the titular passion of Deepika’s Mastani, and turned the table in favour of Bajirao-Kashibai. It’s been a long tradition in our Indian cinema when David has overshadowed Goliath. Here are some iconic supporting characters that have been bigger champs than their main leads, a contemplative list from The Quint:
1. Sunny Deol in Damini
A housewife seeking justice in an unjust system, Damini had Sunny Deol in a small but strapping role. Deol might be limited in terms of an expressive canvas, but director Rajkumar Santoshi exploited the skill Deol was good at, i.e. screaming. And when he screamed for justice with the right pitch, he garnered the maximum applause.
2. Kangana Ranaut in Fashion
The film was fashioned to be a Priyanka Chopra vehicle, but Kangana Ranaut came out of nowhere and stole the thunder with her miniscule role. This was also the time when we became aware of Ranaut’s volcanic talent that’s erupting before our eyes now.
3. Anil Kapoor in Taal
Akshay Khanna’s lonesome lover, Aishwarya Rai’s defiant bloomer, together they made chemistry flat, like a straight line refusing to bend to mend things. It was Anil Kapoor who arrived at the scene late, but jazzed up the score quickly, with a dramatic flamboyance that only a Munna or Lakhan could have brought.
4. Manoj Bajpai in Satya
Satya, the raison d’être of Ram Gopal Varma’s career, made an instant star out of Manoj Bajpai. His Bhiku Mhatre couldn’t hear his own footsteps, one of those rare characters befitting for the rotten paradise of film noir.
5. Utpal Dutt in Golmaal
Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s pristine comedy has every actor in top form, from Amol Palekar’s dual brilliance to Dina Pathak’s quirky take on mother. If Palekar’s quiet demeanour started the comedic curve in the plot, it was Utpal Dutt’s histrionics that made it hit the peak. Bhavani Shankar was the concerned, later angered father of every Indian daughter, brought to life with unadulterated affection by Dutt.
6. Madhuri Dixit in Devdas
Shah Rukh Khan channelised whatever he had learnt from one of his idols Dilip Kumar, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali left no stone unturned to make his muse, Aishwarya Rai the decorated Paro. But the heart of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Devdas belongs to Chandramukhi and Madhuri Dixit’s emotional resilience rescues the film out of the debris of Bhansali’s extravagance. Not to forget, Dixit delivered some of the most elegant dance numbers of her career in this one.
7. Saif Ali Khan in Omkara
Langda Tyagi didn’t have the emotional nakedness of a traitor, but Saif Ali Khan built the antagonist with a slithering intensity, giving his character a rare range that we never thought he was capable of. He renounced all mannerisms in favour of realism, and made Shakespearean perverse yet sexy in Hindi cinema.
8. Paresh Rawal in Hera Pheri
This is the beginning of the cult of Paresh Rawal. In the bumbling desperation of Baburao Ganpatrao Apte a.k.a. Babu Bhaiyya, neither Akshay Kumar nor Suniel Shetty could stand ground. Result? It made an improbable star out of a middle-aged character actor. His Babu Bhaiyya created such an archetype that he lived cheap imitations of it in his later roles.
9. Rekha in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar
Rekha’s Zohra Begum ate Raakhee’s Kaamna alive in Prakash Mehra’s reworking of Devdas. Besides, Rekha’s chemistry with Amitabh Bachchan continues to be the stuff dreams are made of.
10. Tuffy in Hum Aapke Hain Koun…!
Some are fascinated by Sooraj Barjatya’s surreal world where everyone is making merry, while some discard it as a wedding video. But none could contest the enduring appeal of its good-hearted naivety, pulled off with great musical vignettes. The ensemble drama had fine performances from everyone along with the star leads in Salman-Madhuri. But at the end, all gratitude went to Tuffy, the Pomeranian who knew the key to solve all ‘trouble in paradise’ situations rests with Lord Krishna, the lover of all lovers.
(The writer is a journalist and a screenwriter who believes in the insanity of words, in print or otherwise. Follow him on Twitter: @RanjibMazumder)
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