12 March,2020 10:40 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Picture Courtesy: Official Instagram Account/Rohit Shetty, YouTube
Rohit Shetty's story from scratch to success is no less than the blockbuster potboilers he often helms. He started working at the age of 17 on Ajay Devgn's Phool Aur Kaante, went on to become Akshay Kumar's body double in Suhaag, made his directorial debut in 2003 with Zameen, and has now made Sooryavanshi, the fourth film in India's first cop-universe.
The filmmaker's birthday this year falls at the right time since he has possibly the biggest film of the year coming up very soon. His cinema is rooted in hardcore commerce that seldom takes itself seriously. His brand of action involves making no bones and breaking lots of bones. His penchant for flying cars and over-the-top humour is known to all, and today, he's hailed as one of the most successful filmmakers in the country.
Talking about the success of his films would be too passe, so how about reliving and revisiting some of the best scenes from his blockbusters? Scenes that stood out for the way they were filmed, performed, written, and edited. These are personal choices that are welcomed with another point of view. Here we go:
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As much as Golmaal is known for reinventing Tusshar Kapoor and his mute act, the most endearing quality of this comedy was the romance between Paresh Rawal and Sushmita Mukherjee. Their song was shot in black-and-white, which only made their chemistry a lot more charming. It was also proof Shetty can handle romance as endearingly as he can comedy and farce.
Largely remembered for Sanjay Mishra's crackling performance and his umpteen requests to everyone to chill, another character that stood out was Tobu Bhai, played by Johnny Lever. With an artist like him, you need sharp writing and directorial skills. Shetty and Lever collaborated for the first time and the filmmaker indeed did justice to the talent of the comic star. It was a fitting tribute to Sir Juda from Subhash Ghai's Karz who suddenly regains his voice after a tight slap from Sanjay Dutt. It was all implausible but you couldn't help but chuckle. The success lay in the writing and the way Lever nailed the nuances of physical comedy.
A majority of Golmaal 3 was about cacophony and chaos, and it's ironic a film that bases itself on one-liners and quips, the moment that stood out was a wordless gag where all the boys indulged in a three-minute sequence of physical comedy, using the properties around them to elicit laughter. The scene was a reflection of how silences can also be an effective tool to create a humorous piece for a comedy.
Singham was the beginning of the formation of Rohit Shetty's brand. This was his first action-drama after his debut, Zameen. The legacy of the leading man of this cop film continues to carry the baton in films like Simmba and now Sooryavanshi. But equally impressionable and impactful was Prakash Raj's Jaykant Shikre, a blend of comedy and cold-bloodedness. In the climax, when he knows he has been defeated, he does what few villains have done in Hindi Cinema - Cry. He's visibly scared to be killed, and we all are amused.
In what is Abhishek Bachchan's most uninhibited performance, inspired by Amol Palekar from the classic comedy, Golmaal, he pretends to be an effeminate dance teacher and continues to dance for over two minutes on a medley of Bollywood chartbusters to prove he's worth it. It's an impressive piece of physical comedy from an actor who deserves a lot more complex and challenging roles.
Shetty isn't just about comedy and action, and Chennai Express proved it. The man also knows how to handle romance and that too delicately. In what is the film's best scene, Shah Rukh Khan carries Deepika Padukone in his arms while climbing 300 steps of a temple as a part of the tradition. And this is the very moment where she has fallen in love with him. Pretence has turned into passion!
This is the filmmaker's most underwhelming film, yet a commercial success. A majority of everything in this film was hugely forgettable, but the one scene that stood out was that terrific twist where Kajol is revealed to be the villain. Shetty shot her walk the way he usually shoots his heroes, and the actress relished on her villainy with swag dripping from her persona. Alas, this twist lasted as long as the film in the cinemas.
The one good thing about Golmaal Again was its meta-ness. There was a fitting tribute to Nana Patekar, his legacy, and Krantiveer. This was Shetty's detox film as no flying cars made their way into the narrative, on the contrary, there were flying books. In one scene, Shreyas Talpade is possessed by a spirit and he begins to talk in Patekar's voice. It was both eerie and entertaining!
This is easily the filmmaker's most entertaining film powered by a no-holds-barred performance by Ranveer Singh. The actor isn't entirely wrong when he says he was born to be Simmba and Rohit Shetty's hero. Given Singh's off-screen persona and unmatched enthusiasm, Shetty took a leaf out of it and amplified it on the celluloid with boisterous results. Simmba will enjoy a lot of reruns for Ajay Devgn's cameo and Akshay Kumar's surprise appearance. But what is the best scene of the film is the point where Simmba has reformed and transformed into Inspector Sangram Bhalerao. Throughout the first half, he was desperately asking Ashutosh Rana's Nityanand Mohile to salute him, but he doesn't. And when he does, you cannot help but whistle!
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