Making their mark

You look out for their names in the credits; they're that good. Supporting actors often play second fiddle to the stars and yet, as much finer actors, they bring their characters to life. You remember their screen names, their mannerisms; their expressions stay with you after you leave the theatre. Sunday MiD DAY talks to actors who had recall value even after the last credit had rolled

Everyone knew Deepak Dobriyal after Omkara. Playing Langda Tyagi's puny sidekick Raju, he had people asking, 'Who's that guy?' In this year's crop, Deepak shines again in supporting character roles watch his face as Mamdu when he wails in disbelief in Delhi-6. See how he makes you laugh without uttering a word at a paan shop in Gulaal.

"When I heard Rakeysh Mehra was making Dilli-6, I immediately dropped off my pictures. I had to be a part of a movie titled that. I'm from Dilli-16 myself, the Qutub Institutional Area. Later, I met Rakeysh at a party, he told me, 'Your picture's already up on our casting board.'"

Playing Kay Kay Menon's right hand man Bhati in Gulaal, Deepak says he got much inspiration from Kay Kay himself. "Just because Bhati's a kind of goon, doesn't mean he frightens or dominates everyone. He has facets to his character," explains Deepak. The actor did seven years of theatre in Delhi before landing in Mumbai. "It took me two-three years to understand asli Bombay," he grins. Now he earns shining reviews with every film. On the cards is a silent 10-minute chapter with Kundan Shah called Hero in multiple stories Mumbai Cutting and Dhaie Ya Bhaie directed by Bela Negi, in which he plays the lead.

Deepak shrugs over the fact all three of his recent films came in a rush, but he has the knack of looking at things positively. "People want to slot you and I want to break that image. I always search for a different track and pick my scripts selectively. Sometimes, even the media doesn't recognise me. I feel a bit bad, then think, maybe it's a compliment that they don't recognise me. It's a choice I've made," he says simply.

Arjun Mathur (Luck By Chance)

Arjun Mathur

Unlike others, Arjun Mathur reveals he did little homework for his role. He was, in a sense, Abhimanyu. In Luck By Chance, Arjun plays struggling actor Abhimanyu who lashes out at his friend and fellow aspiring actor Vikram (Farhan Akhtar) one night in a fit of anger. Later, Abhimanyu's vulnerability and desolation peeps through as he watches Vikram, now a star, sign autographs, while he is still struggling. "It was close to home. He was an actor trying for a break. For the subtle jealousy required, I looked at Farhan playing the lead in Luck By Chance and thought, 'That's a role I would have loved to have done' and the emotion came through," describes Arjun.

Before facing the camera, Arjun was behind it, as assistant director on films like Rang De Basanti, Mangal Pandey and Bunty Aur Babli. By the time, his close friend Zoya offered him Luck By Chance, Arjun had already acted in Mira Nair's Migration and Farhan's AIDS film Positive.

Arjun then landed a much meatier part of the waiter Aman in Barah Aana, acting alongside Naseeruddin Shah and Vijay Raaz. Next up is Karan Johar's My Name Is Khan, in which Arjun's playing a student journalist.

Analysing why Abhimanyu's character stands out, Arjun says, "It was a well-written character and one of the few with a conscience. In a film full of shallow characters, this one stood out with his depth, despite the fact that I had just 12 minutes onscreen." Accolades poured in even for the 12-minute part. "During Javed Akhtar's Holi party, he held my hand and recounted each of my expressions. I was genuinely moved. It was amazing."u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

Abhimanyu Singh (Gulaal)

Abhimanyu Singh

It was because he got carried away. Abhimanyu Singh was rehearsing for the play Sir Sir Sarla and went slightly overboard. His guru Makrand Deshpande gave him a verbal rap, but in that flash, Anurag Kashyap saw his Ransa for his film Gulaal. In it, Abhimanyu plays an unconventional royal heir. With a roguish streak and a devil-may-care, macho attitude, he's perfect hero materialu2026until he's murdered. "I saw him as the hero till he dies and that attracted me," confesses Abhimanyu. At one theatre, a girl in the audience walked up and said, "Promise me you won't die in your next film!"

"I saw Ransa as an idealistic guy, but with the arrogance of royal blood. I wanted to project that intensity and aura," says Abhimanyu, admitting that he had a dash of arrogance in his personality. "I was like Ransa before marriage aggressive and little badtameez. I've sobered down," he chuckles. Reactions have poured in. "Manoj Bajpai called me and said, 'We have to learn a lot from you' and Sonali Kulkarni said, 'I felt cheated when you died.'" Abhimanyu did theatre when he came first, refusing to stand in line at producers' offices. He then did TV shows after his first film Aks bombed and cameos in Dhol and Lakshya. Gulaal has opened doors and he's been selected as the lead in Chandraprakash Dwivedi's new project. "I owe it all to Makrand Deshpande and Anurag Kashyap. They believed in me. Everyone wants to cast you after you get a break, but no one is ready to give you that first chance," describes Abhimanyu.u00a0

Zenobia Shroff (Little Zizou)

Zenobia Shroff

Zenobia Shroff had seen Parsi women like the warm, loving mother she played in Little Zizou. Growing up at the Kharighat colony at Hughes Road, Zenobia says she found it easy to base her character Roxanne, mother to the sulky Lianah and proxy mother to the vulnerable Xerxes. "When I did my audition, I had to do the scene at Udvada when I have a showdown with my mother and the first scene, when little Xerxes brings me a fish," she explains. Zenobia dived into the character, portraying a woman that's the "heartbeat of her household".

Zenobia calls her casting fortuitous. Based out of New York then and part of the theatre scene there for the last 20 years, Zenobia had come down for her monthly holiday with her parents when a friend told her that Sooni was searching for Roxanne. "I ended up staying on for three-four months," she says. Either yelling in tutti-phutti Hindi at workers infringing on her mother's home or hugging Xerxes to her bosom, Zenobia infused believability into Roxanne. "Actually, my Hindi's pretty good," she laughs, "But Sooni wanted the notoriously bad Parsi Hindi u2014 'hamare ko, tumhare ko'. My mum speaks like that so I imitated her."

After doing a film and working under Pearl Padamsee, who was her mentor, Zenobia left for New York in 1988 to study acting. Open to doing roles in India now, Roxanne says she's overwhelmed by the response and is getting used to being recognised even while shopping down Colaba Causeway. And even though Roxanne was required to have a wonderfully warm relationship (and slow waltzes) with her husband Boman (Boman Irani), Zenobia reveals she spent little time with the actor before shooting. "Boman had such a tight schedule, but he's a wonderful guy so it wasn't hard. My parents too have been married 50 years I based it on that. And Boman's real wife's name is also Zenobia!"

Richa Chadha (Oye Lucky Lucky Oye)

Richa Chadha

They were unusual auditions, but they got her the part. Richa Chadha was picked from her theatre group under Barry John by the Oye Lucky Lucky Oye team, then told to act drunk, hurl abuses, throw up and even seduce the hero as part of her audition for Dolly.

"The throwing up scene was later edited out of the film. I'd graduated from college in Delhi recently so that was still fresh on my mind," explains Richa, "I saw Dolly as a nice person but who wasn't very refined and had a tacky way of dressing. She has a strange attitude and speaks an English-Hindi mix."

What emerged on screen is the comical sister of Lucky's sweetheart Sonal (Neetu Chandra).

A woman scorned, Dolly erupts in spite at Lucky. You can't help but laugh as she verbally attacks her dim husband for mistaking plastic fruit for real.

Says Richa, "I remember Bheja Fry director Sagar Bellary being a bit standoffish when he first met me. When I asked him later, he said that he actually thought I was as rude and obnoxious as my character. Such a compliment!"

Already shooting an experimental film with Santosh Sivan and in talks for a fun, frothy role with a big banner, Richa reveals that acting wasn't even her first choice. "I wanted to be a journalist and did a media course. But after doing theatre, I joined Nadira Babbar's Ekjute group, then got a diploma under Barry John. I've practically struggled for only about a month." Richa says it helped that she saw Dolly's weaknesses.

"I felt sad for her. She supports the entire family as a dancer, but gets little respect. She's hungry for attention. That's why when Lucky asks her if she's eaten, she says, 'Main touch ho gayi.'"

Others who made their small roles unforgettable

> Johnny Walker as the quirky maalishwala in Pyaasa
> Vijay Raaz as the marigold-chomping Dubey in Monsoon Wedding
> Piyush Mishra as Abbaji's strategiser Kaka in Maqbool
> Ranvir Shorey as the thick-headed Bunty Khosla in Khosla Ka Ghosla
> Vinay Pathak as the card shark Prakash in Johnny Gadaar
> Om Puri as the sleazy secretary in Chachi 420
> Saurabh Shukla as the straight-talking Kallu Mama in Satya
> Zohra Sehgal as the vitriolic mum in Chini Kum
> Sonu Sood as Abhishek Bachchan's ruthless brother in Yuva
> Kay Kay Menon as the unstable, foul-mouthed son in Sarkar
> Manoj Pahwa as the hilarious Inspector Maninder Lovely in Being Cyrus

Think you can contribute to this list? Mail us your pick of actors who made character roles unforgettable in Hindi cinema to smdmail@mid-day.com and we'll print your answers next weeku00a0

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