Pankaj Kapoor, one of the finest actors amongst the present lot of character actors. He can easily be put in the list right up there with Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri. Alas, he never got the same fame as the other two. Pankaj Kapoor is a qualified engineer, but his passion for films lead him to join National School of Drama.
6 years later, in 1982 he acted in his first movie 'Arohan'. In 1983 came 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' which is the first movie that had him in a prominent role. Thereafter he starred in another comedy 'Chameli ki Shaadi' co-starring Anil Kapoor. Both films were critically acclaimed but Pankaj Kapoor had only minor roles in them.
In one of his lesser known works is 'Ek Ruka Hua Faisla'(1986) displays the caliber of his acting skills. It was adaptation of hollywood classic '12 Angry Men' with Pankaj Kapoor in a vital role.
Early 90's saw him starring in two important films 'Ek Doctor ki Maut' and 'Roja'. 'Ek Doctor ki Maut' was very highly acclaimed by critics and he won National Award for Best Actor. In 'Roja' he played Kashmiri Terrorist where he got to work with Mani Ratnam.
In 2003, just when most people had started to think that his career was over came 'Maqbool' with him reprising the role of Abbaji. Abbaji was modern take on Shekespeare's Macbeth. He played his role somewhat similar to Marlon Brando's role in Godfather. His performance is easily one of the best by any Indian actor in last 10 years.
Recently an interviewer asked him about his works in progress to which he replied "I am out of work". How such a great actor is out of work is beyond comprehension. This has been tragedy with him all through his career. His talent is under utilized. Hopefully he will keep giving us gems like Abbaji in coming future.
PS- He is directing his son Shahid Kapoor in upcoming film Mausam. Hope both father and son deliver a hit big time!!
Written By Ali Naqvi
2 comments:
Pankaj Kapoor is a versatile character and he simply starts living the character. Remember his character in Office Office (tv serial), you could simply associate to his character of a common man. Also, if you remember serials like Neem Ka Ped & ofcourse jassos Karamchand. Ali you missed Halla Bol too in one of his great performances.
Pankaj Kapur is definitely an extremely less utilized _actors_ of this time on the silver screen. Much of his work and therefore talent is/was available on television. Serials like Neem Ka Ped, Karamchand, Fatichar, Office office, Kisi Ek Phool Ka Naam Lo, Kab Tak Pukaroon and Zaban Sambhal Ke present the consummate acting skills of Kapur.
You forgot to mention Blue Umbrella, his second with Vishal Bharadwaj and Sehar with Kabeer Kaushik. The scene of Sehar in which Professor Tiwari shoots Gajraj is one of the best scene of the movie.
In my opinion his acting skills need to be honed by directors of the same calibre.
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