Which Bollywood character would you like to play?

A long time ago Beth had done a post in which she responded to a tag about which movie characters should have their own blogs. This had triggered an idea for a similar post about which character I'd like to play most in a film. But I sat on it till Amrita recently reminded me of Amitabh Bachchan's Lawaaris in a recent comment.

Why Lawaaris? Let me explain.

I'm a huge fan of stereotypical 60s and 70s Bollywood constructs. For example, how about the song situation in which only the singer and perhaps one or two other characters in a mehfil know what the song is about. In which the rest of the other highly intelligent people just aren't paying attention to the lyrics. Does the title song of Amar Akbar Anthony ring a bell? Yes, that kind of song.

Another construct goes something like this: you often have a situation in which the director has covered a lot of emotional or narrative ground and wants to summarize for the audience. Perfect situation for a song, but wait, the characters aren't ready to sing the lyrics just yet. So you employ a sequence in which someone (like a nukkad kalakar or a fakir) shows up in the neighborhood and sings your thoughts for you.

Zanjeer contains a joyous example of this in which two street performers verbalize what Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri are feeling, while the two actors quietly exchange meaningful glances.

And Lawaaris contains the mother of such sequences. In the movie Amitabh's hapless character, Heera, whose story begins at childhood, just can't catch a break. He's an illegitimate child, his father is Gabbar Singh and he's adopted by an abusive drunk father who won't feed him. All he has is a galli ka kutta for company. And whenever he's feeling down in the dumps, out pops this fakir singing a raundu song for the ages called "Jiska koi nahin".



Now if Prakash Mehra were to come to me with a film offer and say "Beta Aspi, play any role you'd like in my movie", I'd respond by saying: "Prakashji, forget dancing herogiri, forget action herogiri, forget romantic herogiri, forget Shatrughan Sinha-type herogiri, forget playing John Abraham even though he always has Bips wrapped around him."

"Just make me a fakir in your flick", I'd beg him "Because like a khota rupaiya, he'll show up everywhere and no one could get rid of him. Even if you were to nuke the guy, he'd still be in the next frame following some sankat."

Good choice, no? So, what character would you like to play?

Also:

• Ritha would like to play Alisha from Ishq Vishk and links to the real inspiration behind Bappida's unique style
  



• Any of the big 70s actresses for Joules, but even Sharmila or Babita will do



• girlie girl will do anything Bipasha to get close to John or anything badass by Aruna Irani



• Mind Rush has four awesome choices



• Shekhar ki Diwani prefers anything by Bela Bose



• Gul Panag's role from Dor for Saritha, or any role from Dil Chahta Hai



• Bella wouldn't mind playing Aish in D:2 or Kajol in Fanaa just to get close to certain people



• Any of Jaya Bhaduri's famous roles for Yajnaseni who asks: hasn't anyone seen TZP yet?



• Daddy's Girl wouldn't mind being a rocking Hema Malini or a spirited Madhuri



• Any guesses who anu g or Megan would pick, asks Joules



• Beth wants to play Babli with Bunty



• Sidekick wants to be a singing star from the B&W 40s and 50s and suggests something for anu g to play



• And guess who anu g would like to play?
  



• Discussion: Nach Baliye in B&B - avoidable!



• The original SkD returns and would like to play something by Smita Patil or Rekha



• Indy would like to play Amitabh in Sholay