The Best Cameo

I keep having these chats with Reshu about movies and music. Almost a feature of weekends these days, couple of hours discussing cinema. Reminds me of the good old undergrad days when we chatted up for hours discussing this stuff. We share this passion for hindi cinema. He is probably the only other guy (amongst folks who i know personally) who'd go alone to watch a movie (first one being me of course).

The discussion other day was about the best cameo in hindi film history. Read about it here. the friend in question in that piece is yours truly but the references to Shahrukh and Salman are not mine. Reshu picked Sunny Deol in Damini - a performance that is mighty impressive. But that was an author backed role - and Sunny was the 'hero' of that film. I would rate performances where the actor brought a new dimension to the role from the weight of his performance.

And probably then it is an easier choice than what Reshu had to make. The three performances that come to my mind are from 1967, 1973 and 1974. Malang Chacha in Upkar, Sher Khan in Zanjeer and Michael D'Souza in Majboor. And perhaps not so surprising is the fact that all three characters were played by Pran, an actor-par-excellence. An actor far ahead of his times, who actually experimented when experimentation was not a buzz word.

Anyway, If I had to choose one, probably I'll pick Sher Khan in Zanjeer. The scene where he pulls a hair out of his moustache as a collateral for a loan is something which only Pran could have pulled off. Imagine SRK or Salman doing that scene!

My personal favorite has to be Majboor though. I remember when Star Movies did some video on 100 years of cinema in mid-90s, the only scene from hindi films was pran lighting a match stick from a statue in Majboor. Pran enters the movie after maybe an hour but then dominates the film completely.

(Pran's mannerisms and acting was brilliant in Purab aur pachhim, very subtle but very very effective)

I chose Zanjeer because I felt that Upkar and Majboor were more meaty roles. Sher Khan was Sher Khan because of the way Pran played it. Probably I use the word 'great' so loosely that saying the performance was great would be an injustice. It suffices to say, Pran was peerless and this was one of his best performances!