Category: Profiles

Posted on

Anil Kapoor: An Actor Who Has Been Aging Like A Fine Wine

An overview into how Anil Kapoor can become the next Amitabh Bachchan

Anil Kapoor made his Hindi film debut with a small part in the 1979 film Hamare Tumhare. He appeared as the leading man in the 1980 Telugu film Vamsa Vruksham directed by late Bapu. Anil Kapoor’s first lead role in Hindi was Woh Saat Din also directed by late Bapu. However it was the 1984 Mashaal that gave the actor his first big recognition. In this Yash Chopra directorial Anil Kapoor played a tapori who undergoes a transformation under the influence of Dilip Kumar’s character.  In spite of sharing screen space with legendary Dilip Kumar the actor more than stood his own. He rightfully won Filmfare’s best supporting actor that year.

One of Anil Kapoor’s most memorable films as leading man came in Mr. India directed by ace filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. The film released in 1987 and went on to become one of the major grosser of that year. It mixed science fiction with a relatable underdog story. In the titular role Anil Kapoor delivered a stupendous act. He was in equal measure charming and also vulnerable.

Some of his other notable works as a leading man include Ram Lakhan, Tezaab, 1942: A Love Story among others.

But the genius of Anil Kapoor lies in how he has constantly reinvented himself particularly after he stopped playing the commercial hero. In his second innings the actor has played a variety of roles that ranged from comic, intense and even grey to outright negative characters.

A good example of this range is the Zoya Akhtar directorial Dil Dhadakne Do. This 2015 film saw Anil Kapoor playing a self- made millionaire who never tires of repeating his rags to riches story. But beneath this arrogance his character Kamal is also vulnerable and keeps swallowing anxiety pills. The reason for that is his company is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Anil Kapoor delivered a rousing performance. He effortlessly portrayed the grey shades of Kamal. Some of the best moments in the film belonged to him.

Anil Kapoor has also been part of films specially designed for OTT. A case in point is the 2020 film AK VS AK directed by Vikramaditya Motwane. This unique movie saw Anil Kapoor and filmmaker turned actor Anurag Kashyap playing a fictionalized version of themselves. The film begins with a panel discussion where both of them are participating. A small argument blows up into something severe. Anurag splashes water on Anil Kapoor’s face and leaves the place in a huff. Later he returns and tells him that he has kidnapped his daughter Sonam Kapoor. He also threatens Anil that he has only 10 hours to find Sonam and he cannot go to the cops. He further adds that Anil’s search will be recorded. What follows is an emotional thriller with a twist that viewers don’t see coming. As a tense father Anil Kapoor did a fabulous job. The best part about his performance is his absolute lack of vanity.

Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur in Night Manager, Part 2.

If we take some of his outright negative characters the best example is the recently released web-show The Night Manager Season 1 and 2. In this web series Anil Kapoor played a businessman called Shelly. Shelly is supposed to be a philanthropist for the outside world but in real life he is an illegal arms dealer. The monstrous side of Shelly was kept to a minimum in the first season. But in the second season the evilness comes out more. Anil Kapoor delivered a rocking performance both as the suave businessman and also as the merciless monster. One of the scenes in the second season that stays in the viewers mind for a long time is when he talks about bombs in a poetic way while chewing a cigar.

Anil Kapoor in a humour role in Welcome Back

When it comes to comic roles the two Welcome movies are a good example of how the actor left the audiences in splits. In both these films Anil Kapoor is not the main lead. Still he stole the show as one of the main goons along with Nana Patekar. The chemistry between Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar was great. Even in Mubarakan the actor brought so much energy to the table. His nephew Arjun Kapoor had a double role in the film but the audiences came out of the theaters remembering Anil Chacha more.

Also read: Virupaksha: A solid thriller that is high on both atmospherics and content

After he stopped playing the commercial hero the variety of roles he played increased as we have seen in the above mentioned web shows and films. Here’s hoping that the actor continues to surprise the audiences with many more characters in his upcoming films. Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal, Siddarth Anand’s Fighter etc. are his next big releases. Who knows…he may be the next Amitabh Bachchan!

Posted on

Prabhas: The rise and decline of the ‘Baahubali’ star

Here’s an overview of how Rebel Star Prabhas has gone from a strong force to a pale shadow of himself, post-‘Baahubali’.

Prabhas made his debut with Jayanth C Paranjee’s Eeswar in 2002. He has been part of over 20 films to date. His most famous projects include Varsham (2004), Chatrapathi (2005), Darling (2010), Mr Perfect (2011), Mirchi (2013), and of course the Baahubali (2015 & 2017) films.

Of the 20-plus films, only eight are hits at the box office. The rest of them have either done average business like his first film Eeswar or have been complete disasters like Munna, Yogi, and Rebel.

So, it is not that Prabhas hasn’t seen flops before, but his once magnetic screen presence has seen a total dip after the world-famous Baahubali. Also, the actor has become too macho leaving little or no space for other emotions like vulnerability.

Machoism and sentiment

His debut film Eeswar was a typical “rich girl loves poor boy” story filled with all the clichés that we associate with the genre. Despite this, he made an impressive debut, for there was certain ease in his acting.

There was a time when Prabhas made efforts to cater equally to both masses and classes. For example, SS Rajamouli’s action-drama Chatrapathi was meant to make him the darling of the masses.

The director presented him as macho, but there were also some solid emotional moments beneath all that action. Prabhas more than stood his own, even opposite a senior actress like Bhanupriya. His scenes with over-the-top Shafi also showed a different side of the actor.

Romance and action

In Varsham and Mirchi, the Rebel Star struck a perfect balance between a romantic and an action hero. His romantic scenes with both Trisha and Anushka Shetty respectively had many adorable moments.

In between, he also tried his hand with a classy period film like Pournami (2006).  Of course, it also had its share of action scenes. But there is also a hugely vulnerable side of Prabhas, especially in his scenes with Trisha.

Pournami wasn’t a blockbuster when it was released but it continues to be a film that is remembered fondly by the class audiences.

The likes of Mr Perfect and Darling, on the other hand, established Prabhas as an out-and-out lover boy. Contrary to the title Mr Perfect, his character Vicky isn’t flawless. There are times when he comes across as too selfish. But Prabhas managed well to balance the different shades of his character.

The Baahubali films directed by Rajamouli, of course, took the stardom of Prabhas to a different level. Baahubali 1&2 allowed him to portray different shades — a fierce warrior, a righteous prince who stands up for his beliefs, a loving husband, etc.

But, since then, things are on downhill with Saaho (2019), Radhe Shyam (2022) and the latest Adipurush (2023). There could be multiple reasons for these disasters, but the chief reason is they did not match up to the expectations after Baahubali.

In the case of Saaho, director Sujeeth made a mess of what was essentially a revenge drama with an underworld background. The plot was convoluted unnecessarily with too many characters.

Sujeeth tried to show some 50 shades of Prabhas. But in the process, the style took over substance. Chunky Pandey as Devraj was the only actor in the supporting cast who made any impression.

As for the Baahubali-star, he comes across as rather bored for most of the movie. There is a lazy attitude that we see in the actor and this makes Sahoo even worse. The close-up shots did not exactly help either.

Radhe Shyam: Another debacle

Radhe Shyam directed by Radha Krishna Kumar was an interesting attempt given that it is a love story where there are no human villains. You don’t have any action scenes where Prabhas takes on the baddies. Here, it is fate that plays spoilsport.

And the conflicts arise from his destiny, not his fellow human beings. Though Radhe Shyam was a complete departure from Saaho in many ways, the box office result was the same.

To the credit of Prabhas, he did put in a sincere performance. But the romantic side wasn’t as convincing as in Mr Perfect. He did try to rise above the muddled script.

The biggest reason behind Radhe Shyam’s failure was the lack of clarity on the part of director Radha Krishna Kumar. It was not clear at any point whether he was supporting science or astrology. It also didn’t help that Prabhas and Pooja Hedge’s chemistry was far from convincing.

Adipurush: More of a video game

Now to the latest Adipurush. Om Raut’s take on the Ramayana is something that writer Valmiki would cringe at. With the weird tonality that the director adopted Adipurush became more of a video game than the story of Lord Rama.

Apart from the lapses in the story, the performance of Prabhas was also rather laboured. There was no attempt on his part to get into the headspace of Rama. The actor treated it as any other mainstream character.

The magnetic presence associated with the actor is also completely missing in this film. His broad frame did not help in any way. Forget about NT Rama Rao, even others who acted as Rama fared much better.

And now, for the Baahubali actor to return to form, he needs to do two things seriously — choosing his scripts wisely and getting rid of his laziness in acting.

Let’s hope that his forthcoming Salaar and Project K would bring out the better version of the actor!

https://thesouthfirst.com/entertainment/prabhas-the-rise-and-decline-of-the-baahubali-star/

Posted on

A Power House Performance by Samantha Akkineni in The Family Man Season 2

Irrespective of how The Family Man Season 2 has been viewed, the common thread has been the talented Samantha Akkineni’s performance. Even those who haven’t liked the show that much have praised her performance. In fact there are many who have said that she outshone Manoj Bajpayee

Samantha has always been an actress with potential, examples being Rangasthalam and Super Deluxe. In Rangasthalam, she played a completely deglamourised part and challenging particularly given the roles that Samantha had done before then. However, she rose up to the challenge and delivered a very good performance.

Super Deluxe was another interesting part as she played the role of an adulterous. It is not a role that many actresses would take on but Samantha once again showed her ability to pick unique parts. In spite of sharing screen space with Fahadh Fassil, she more than stood her own.

However, as The Family Man has shown, those two films were just teasers. Samantha’s Raji is someone who comes across as a quiet person and as someone who doesn’t want to draw too much attention to herself. In fact she lets men grope her and touch her inappropriately. However, there is a suppressed rage that is visible, and that rage comes out in the brilliantly executed action scene. From a girl who is scared, she transforms into a killer within seconds.

In various interviews Samantha has said that she doesn’t look at her character as a villain and it is quite clear why she said that when you finish watching the series. Raji is someone who has faced brutality at the hands of not just Sri Lankan soldiers, but also at the hands of men and society at large. Therefore her anger is directed not just towards the government but also patriarchy.

Samantha embodied all the shades of her character perfectly and delivered a terrific performance. She was also excellent in the action scenes. Through her character, director duo Raj and DK showed how a freedom fighter is a terrorist for a person who is on the other side of the fence. In this case, it is Manoj Bajpayee’s Srikant Tiwari.

Here’s hoping that Samantha will continue to deliver very good performances and go from strength to strength.

Posted on

Alia Bhatt: A Multi Faceted Queen

Today’s feature is a very special one as it is about one of my most favourite actresses. She is the very talented and a multifaceted personality Alia Bhatt. The reason for doing this feature is that Alia will be turning 28 on 15th of this month. Alia has captured the hearts of many ranging across different age groups from children, teenagers, adults and even old people. Apart from being a wonderful actress she has also sung some nice songs in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Highway, Udta Punjab etc. She also opened up a production house recently. The name of her production house is Eternal Sunshine productions. What makes this even more special is the fact that Alia is the youngest actress turned producer. The actress also set up an initiative called co Exist in 2017 which works towards animals and ecological welfare.

Shabana Azmi in one of her interviews had called Alia a wonderful actress with the perfect mixture of vulnerability and strength which is very attractive. When you look at the characters in films like Highway and Udta Punjab you feel that Shabana ji is right. For example, in Highway you see lot of vulnerability as she is scared of her kidnapper but gradually you see the character finding strength and by the end strength replaces vulnerability. A good example of that is the scene when she confronts her uncle in front of entire family. She yells at her father about not warning her about the dangers posed by insiders. The film ends with her going to the mountains and setting up her own factory. In Udta Punjab the character goes through multiple scenes of physical abuse but she never gives up, in fact she becomes a victor at the end. This combination makes her very endearing to the audiences particularly the younger generation both male and female. Males want to have a girlfriend like her while females find themselves in the characters.

Now I will talk about some of my favourite Alia Bhatt performances. Since I have already mentioned Highway and Udta Punjab I will be talking about three more.

1 Raazi – Raazi is based on the book written by Harinder Sikka. It is set in 1971 when India and Pakistan were at the brink of the war and Information is the key for both the nations. Alias character Sehmat gets married to a respectable Pakistani family. Her job is deliver information to Indian government through Mars code. It is a part which isn’t particularly likeable since she has to choose between nation and family. Honestly some of the actions which the character does are questionable but Sehmat never comes across as a villain because of Alias performance.

2 Dear Zindagi – Dear Zindagi was an attempt to normalize Psychiatry through the troubled personal life of a teenage girl. The character in this one is very different from Udta Punjab. The reason being it comes from an upper middle class family and her issues aren’t exactly first world war ones. You have friends to fall upon and also a glamorous profession but Alia still made it work with her spontaneous performance. Her scenes with the therapist played by SRK were one of the chief reasons why the film worked.

3 Gully Boy – As the title suggests the story is about a boy from the gully played by Ranveer Singh but Alia shined in all her scenes with a spirited act. In this film also you can see vulnerability and strength in many scenes. Alias performance worked as a perfect contrast to the understatedness of Ranveer. Through her performance she showed that good actors don’t need a whole of screen time in order to make an impression.

Apart from the above mentioned ones you have also got the Dulhania Franchise, Humpty Sharma and Badrinath Ki Dulhania along with 2 states, Kalank etc. Although these films are more commercial in nature the actress has played strong parts in these films as well. For example, in Badrinath Ki Dulhania Alia plays a girl called Vaidehi who is very clear about wanting to become an air hostess. She is someone who will go to any lengths in order to achieve the dream. Keeping all this in mind it is not surprising that apart from Shabana you have also had acclaimed actors Irrfran and Pankaj Tripati  also praising her. Irrfran had called her a gifted actress with the potential of being an international star. Pankaj Tripati who was the dialect coach of Udta Punjab had called her a hardworking actress.

As I earlier said the actress is a singer too. Her singing journey started with a bit version of Sooha Saaha in Highway however the first major song that she sung was the unplugged version of Samjhawaan in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. This song is not there in the film but is available in Youtube. The actress won lot of appreciation for the song. This was followed by two songs in Dear Zindagi and one of the songs was the club version of Love You Zindagi. After Dear Zindagi you had the song Ik Kudi which she sung with Diljit Dosanjh. In Badrinath Ki dulhania she sang the female version of Humsafar. The last one was Sadak 2. Just like her acting Alia also left a mark with her singing skills.

Now let’s move to Coexist which I mentioned in the beginning. As I earlier said Co Exist works towards animals and ecological welfare. As part of coexist you have the initiative my wardrobe is Su wardrobe. It is a philanthropic initiative where people get to choose outfits from the personal closet of Alia and other celebrities as a part of charity. The entire amount goes to some charity or the other. From one of the proceeds eco friendly solar lamps were sent to economically backward districts in Kikkeri, Karnataka. 

Alias sense of humour is another thing which is worth appreciating. Everyone knows how she became the butt of the jokes after getting the name of India president wrong. She was never offended with the jokes and took it in her stride. She also talked about her favourite Alia Bhatt jokes. In fact Alia also featured in Genuis of the year which was a funny take on the aftermath of Koffe with Karan debacle.

Although Alia is only 27 you can see lot of maturity in her which shows both off and on screen. The biggest example of that is the way she dealt with all the trolling post Sushant Singh Rajput’s death last year. A Koffe with Karan episode was unnecessarily blown out of proportion and a picture was painted of them as enemies. Add to that Sonam’s statement of who is Sushant was attributed to her. The actress took the controversy in her stride and focused on her work. We can see the result in the teaser of Gangubai.

It is a well known fact that Kangana has been attacking her since 2019 just because Alia didn’t promote her film Manikarnika. But Alia never resorted to Kangana’s language and has always given a dignified answer. One reason for that could be that she understands the background from which Kangana comes from.

Alia’s compassionate nature can also be seen with her sister. In We The Women event she broke down about not understanding what her sister was going through in spite of living with her for a long time. It was a very heart-warming event. Similarly when Rishi Kappor was admitted due to cancer Alia made sure to visit her future father in law. She was there for all the family things and balanced the personal life and professional life very well. After Rishi Kapoor’s death it is said that Alia Bhatt called Neetu Kapoor regularly and not Ranbir. 

Alia’s chemistry with all her co stars has always been good but my favourite pairing is with Varun Dhawan. They have acted together in four films starting from Student of the year to 2019’s Kalank. You can see the comfort level and the understanding that they have got. Even in the disaster that Kalank was their scenes were good to watch. My second favourite pairing of Alia is with Ranveer Singh. Before acting together in Gully Boy they acted in the make my trip ads and their pairing was liked by the audience. You can see the respect that they have for each other’s work and that clearly reflected in Gully Boy. It also helps that both of them are passionate actors and love to take on challenging roles.

Although Alia is not someone who is politically very active but there have been times where the actress has taken a stand. For example during the JNU and CAE protests the actress expressed her solidarity for the students through social media.

I will end this feature by talking about the teaser of Gangubai which has been trending for all the right reasons unlike Sadak 2. The dialogues in the teaser have particularly become very popular and have been quoted by fans. A good example of this is the line Kunwari apne Chhoda Nahi, shrimati kisi ne banaya nahi. While the transformation of Alia in the teaser has largely been appreciated there has also been discussion about alternate casting. Now this isn’t really surprising since Hrithik Roshan’s Super 30 also went through similar issues. But we all know what happened after the release of the film. Hrithik impressed everyone with his committed performance and the film went on to do very well. Coming back to this controversy it is necessary that the people wait until the release of the film. The reason being we don’t know which part of the life story Sanjay Leela Bhansali has taken. Since we are talking about Hrithik it is necessary to mention that both Hrithik and Alia have been invited to join the Oscar academy where they might be given voting rights.

I will finally end by wishing her all the best for the future projects which include Bramhastra and her Telugu debut RRR. An interesting thing about RRR is that Alia will be dubbing in her own voice. It will be interesting to see the actress speak Telugu.