Pawan Malhotra | Statesmen

I remember watching, a very - very intense scene on TV more than a decade back. It  was set in some dark alley, had three actors, two men and a lady into a heated argument. Although all three actors were excellent, one actor stood out. Stout in body structure with moustache and fury in his eyes. It seemed the actor would literally explode with rage. I was spell bound by the performance. Days later I tried to trace the show, but in vain.

But I had a mental impression of the actor scene that I remained etched into my mind. I wished I could see the actor somewhere.

In 2008, came the moment, when I watched the actor in ‘Black Friday’ as Tiger Memon; and he did an excellent portrayal, playing each expression to the hilt. The cool calculated plotting, the rage after his business gets wrecked after 1992 riots, the passion when Menon incites his mates to bomb Mumbai. I was thrilled to watch his performance. I patiently watched for end credits to see his name; Tiger Memon -  Pawan Malhotra said the credits.

Pawan Malhotra has gone on to star in Jab We Met as Geet’s Uncle. Although role was short and Cliché but his performance leaves an impression. Then he starred in Don, but role did nothing to extract much from the actor. His Delhi 6 role (as Sonam's Uncle) was again a powerful character, that he played to perfection, specially the mannerisms.

Last performance that I saw of his was in Vishal Bharadwaj’s film based on AIDS-  ‘Blood Brothers’ alongside Siddharth of RDB fame. Excellent performance there. Watch that scene where he catches Siddharth in the lift. Here watch this short film and see what I mean…

He is underrated and under utilized, and it is upto film makers to exploit his potential. Here’s hoping that we as audience get to see more of him.

Written By- ‘Ali Naqvi’