The Curious Case of Anil Kapoor

03Mar09

Year: 1984. Movie: Andar Bahar, a 48 Hrs rip-off.

I am absolutely certain this is the first instance when we hear the animal-like growl ‘Jhakaas‘ from Anil Kapoor and nothing has been the same ever since.

That one growl actually defines Anil Kapoor who has been nothing but Jhakaas throughout his 30 year long career in Cinema  – The only survivor of the Sunny-Jackie-Anil trinity and is still going strong, what with his Slumdog euphoria yet to die down.

Having been an Anil Kapoor fan throughout, I am not surprised at his success – Perseverance is his middle name. When everyone thinks he is down and out, he delivers a knock-out like Virasat or Pukar. When the curry western genre was dying in India he came to its rescue as Karan in the iconic Joshilay (of Jogi Thakur fame). He can do loud and over_the_top like no one else can. Exhibit A: Lakhan Singh Ballebaaz (Bhaiyyaji) in Tashan. At the other end of the wide spectrum of his performances you have gems like Parinda and 1942: A Love Story. Adding to his long list of achievements is the fact that he also jump-started the sci-fi genre with his mega hit Mr. India. If these are not enough testaments of his genius, he is the only actor(?) to have formed a memorable on-screen pair with a male actor as well as a female actress and I ain’t talking about any ménage à trois here.

With Jackie Shroff: Andar Bahar, Yudh, Karma, Ram-Lakhan, Kala Bazaar, Parinda, 1942: A Love Story, Trimurti). With Madhuri Dixit: (Tezaab, Ram-Lakhan, Khel, Jamai Raja, Parinda, Pratikar, Zindagi Ek Jua, Beta).

From his effervescent acting in Woh Saat Din and Saaheb to scene-stealing performances in Taal and the recently concluded ‘Golden Globes’ and ‘Academy Awards’ ceremonies (we should forgive his overeager performances just for the heck of it. At least the man was being himself instead of the scripted banality of the ceremony.), he has done it all.

If Govinda is the ideal ‘Tapori’ then Anil the archetype ‘Mawali’. He has done the slapstick (Deewana-Mastana, Khel, Biwi No. 1) and proven time again that when it comes to sit-com (Chameli Ki Shaadi, Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate) one shouldn’t dare look beyond him. All the later year Salman Khan and Govinda characters owe Anil an acknowledgement.

The naysayers who think he can only do comedy have been surprised with Anil’s emotive range who has given some sensational dramatic performances. Anil is equally at ease with drama and has some memorable and sensitive performances as in Awaargi where he is a minor player in the larger machinations of the Mumbai underworld whose lust for life and love for a woman (Meenakshi Sheshadri) are the reasons for his eventual doom or the tour de force in Lamhe, a remarkably underplayed performance from a man for whom over-the-top is child’s play.

I will end this post with a montage of THE Anil Kapoor moments over the years which I have enjoyed.

• Film: Who Saat Din. When Naseer tries to sell him the real life story as a film script, the way Anil rejects the climax and cries “Yeh climax nahin chalegi“, loses the girl but becomes a winner in life.
• Film: Lamhe. Anil Kapoor as Viren (Kunwar Ji) slaps a shady guy whom he owes 6 lakh rupees. The guy, in a manner which defines asking_for_it, shoots his mouth and says smthn like “chey lakh baaki ke  aur Ek lakh is thappad ke” and our man Anil takes a pause, turns back and in classic_Becker_style lashes 6 more forehands and backhands across the face of the hapless palooka before delivering the memorable pièce de résistance “Munim ji ise terah lakh rupaiye de dijiye“. What joy!
• Film: Andar Bahar. Anil plays a crook against the cop of Jackie Shroff. Jackie Shroff has left him alone in his Jeep and gone into a restaurant(?). Upon seeing an abla naari our man Anil becomes horny and what follows is cinematic ecstasy. He masquerades as a cop and conversation goes something like this:

AK: Ladki. Humein pata chalaa hai ki yahaan kuch gair kanooni maal liya jar aha hai. Girl: Maal? Kaun sa Maal? Mere paas to koi maal nahin hai. AK (laughing): Humein to maal hi maal nazar aa raha hai

After these memorable double entendres Anil is about to outrage the modesty of the girl when Jaggu Dada, the cop, shows up and saves the day.

• Film: Kala Bazaar. Our man Anil is running from roof-top to roof-top in a memorable chase sequence which was replicated shot-by-shot in a Hollywood movie which goes by the name of “The Bourne Ultimatum”. But aamchi Mumbai being no Tangiers, one of the chawl roofs collapses and before you can wink Anil is in the bathroom of a semi-nude Kimi Katkar. What follows has to be seen to be believed and I don’t want to spoil it for you. Pure visual pleasure.

I can go on and on but I restrain myself as one blog post is not enough to do justice to Anil Kapoor’s performances. He is the MAN. Hope he burns the brightest before eventually fading out.

N.B: Catching some of the magical moments on youtube.

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Tags: Anil Kapoor, Bollywood, Cinema, Hindi CInema, India, Movies, Tashan