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| INDIAN GLOBAL ACTORS! | |
| By JohnnyD | ||
| 07 October 2006 | ||
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I am sure there are readers, who love to read about Bollywood. Please do give me your feedbacks if you love reading such articles. Happy Reading! INDIAN GLOBAL STARS The globe has shrunk, no wonder! However, the generation today are shouting aloud with their designers’ labels and bagging Hollywood projects through their PR (public relation) mechanism. The impact? As fast as they are being splashed in the media, they also do vanish because of failure and box-office duds worldwide. WE, Indians have always been fascinated by the Wets – be it culture, clothes, cinema or else anything that our brains can ape! The West, on the contrary, have always believed in talent, persona and delivery of proper art as the whole package! Even when Indians (please read NRIs) weren’t populated worldwide, as it is in today’s time, Raj Kapoor’s Chaplinesque character of SHREE 420 became a rage not only in Russia but also created an euphoria in UK, America, Germany, China, Indonesia, Japan and other parts of the world. It was not the NRIs, who loved him as an entertainer but the fact that Raj Kapoor was loved by Germans, British, Japanese, Americans, Indonesians, Chinese, Russians and others. Needless to say, Raj Kapoor was a true showman of Indian cinema and will always be worshipped for giving us memorable films like AWARA, BARSAAT, CHORI CHORI, SHREE 420, JISDESH MEIN GANGA BEHTI HAI, SANGAM, AROUND THE WORLD, MERA NAAM JOKER and many more. His films depicted true-life characters, emotional journey of common man, vindication of truth and love and imparted lessons of life in a spirit that is missing in today’s cinema. As yester year actress Moushumi Chatterjee reminisces, “Raj Kapoor’s films were pure magic and audience learned a great deal about life watching them. He used to beautifully etch, craft and deliver them in true form of entertainment!” S Dev Anand was another actor, who was equally loved like Raj Kapoor when GUIDE was released in English in America, UK, Russia, Europe and other countries. Unlike Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand, a very select few (in today’s time) have not only made an impact worldwide with their histrionics but also they are more respected in the West for their passion, performance and craft. One such name instantaneously comes to our mind is that of Kabir Bedi! Kabir Bedi, an eloquent model of the 70s era made his debut in 1971 with O P Ralhan’s HULCHAL. Born on 16th January 1946, it was the Italian mini series SANDOKAN (1976) that made him the first Indian to become a global actor, almost three decades ago. While in India, he is best remembered as the baddie, Bollywood never really gave him true recognition as a fine actor. One cannot forget Kabir Bedi’s beautiful performances in KACHE DAAGE (with Vinod Khanna), KHOON BARI MAANG (with Rekha & Sonu Walia) or else YALGAAR (Sanjay Dutt). Kabir Bedi recalls, “The super success of SANDOKAN in Italy was really amazing! Honestly, I must confess that I was never loved in India (as an actor) as much as I was and am loved in Italy even today. I can proudly say that I never really succeeded in Bollywood, the way I succeeded in Italy. The craze, the fan following, the adulations and the respect were just out of the world!” Many of the readers will be shocked to know that Kabir Bedi acted in more than 45 projects in the West, which includes projects from Spain, Germany, Italy, France and of course Hollywood. These projects were TV mini series, video films, and films of great stature from 1976 (SANDOKAN) to 2006 (TAKE 3 GIRLS). Having made a name in the Wets in the 70s, Kabir was the first Indian actor to have acted in a Bond film OCTOPUSSY in 1983. For more than a decade (1976 – 1987), he acted in as many as 24 international projects in Italy and Hollywood, prominent among them are: SANDOKAN (1976), THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1978), GIRL FROM INDIA (1982), SATAN’S MISTRESS (1982), OCTOPUSSY (1983), KNIGHT RIDER (1985) and the famous soap opera DYNASTY (1982 to 1986 various episodes)! In 1988, Kabir returned to India with the hit film KHOON BARI MAANG but with offers flowing in from the West, he again shifted base to Italy. From 1988 to 2006, he has done 21 projects and played important characters in various episodes of another never ending soap opera THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL (1987 / 94 / 95 / 2005). Needless to say, he is the most highly successful Indian actor, who has really made his name in the West as a great actor. He discloses, “I am still being offered good projects and it is fun working out there. They are truly professional craftsmen, who know and love their craft to deliver good viewing entertainment!” While Kabir Bedi is popular in Italy, the powerful performer Om Puri (born 18th October 1950) is so famous in London “ that people think I fly to India to act in various Hindi films (smiles). The British shower immeasurable love and adulation to me as an actor. It feels really great because the fan following and immense respect in the West (Hollywood) is unlike in our own country. An actor is respected for the beautiful performance in each film that he does. In India, a star is more famous than a good actor, where as in West, the performance of an actor speaks volume,” discloses the actor. Om Puri made his debut as an actor in 1976 in GHASHIRAM KOTWAL and in 1982 acted in his first Hollywood venture, Richard Attenborough’s GANDHI. He has acted in as many as 20 plus films and TV series in the West, prominent among them are: THE JEWEL IN THE CRWON (1984 TV series), CITY OF JOY (1992), THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS (1996), EAST IS EAST (1999), THE MYSTIC MASSEUR (2001) and others. He has also signed To Hank’s CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR recently. He plays General Zia-Ul-Haq in the film. The film stars Tom Hank, Julia Roberts, Amy Adams and Philip Seymour! Om Puri’s compatriot Naseeruddin Shah (born on 20th July 1950) who made his debut with NISHAANT in 1975 has acted in just seven films in Hollywood so far. He made his debut in Hollywood with GENESIS in 1986 and has acted in memorable films like SUCH A LONG JOURNEY (1998), THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET (2002 TV series) and THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (2003). Gulshan Grover is another actor, who has 15 films to his credit in Hollywood. Having made his debut in 1980 with HUM PAANCH, Gulshan first acted in a French-German TV series LES MYSTERES DE SADJURAH in 1997. Some of his famous moves in the West are: THE IInd JUNGLE BOOK (1997), EAST SIDE (1999), PANIC (2001), AMERICAN DAYLIGHT (2004) and four of his films, namely, MARIGOLD, MY BOLLYWOOD BRIDE, BACKWATERS and BLIND AMBITION are ready for release. While all the actors mentioned in the article have had a successful long stint in Hollywood, there are new players like Irrfan Khan (THE WARRIOR, THE PARTITION), Prashant Narayanan (SHADOWS OF TIME, BOMBIL & BEATRICE), Sudhansu Pandey (THE MYTH) and others, who are making their presence felt in Hollywood productions. However, what most of the readers of today’s generation will be shocked to know is that it was India’s Shashi Kapoor, who first made his Hollywood debut way back in 1967 in PRETTY POLLY. Later, Shashi Kapoor was seen in Merchant Ivory’s HEAT & DUST (1983), JINNAH (1998) and other movies. To work in Hollywood projects may be a fad today among new entrants, however, the fact cannot be ruled out that these actors are not as talented as their earlier peers. Om Puri, a veteran concludes sadly, “The new generation of actors are much more confident as compared to us, in our earlier days. They are more professional in their approach but what they lack inevitably is intensity, true talent, passion to excel and perseverance. They are happier to be splashed in media rather than their craft. That is why they don’t succeed to play a longer innings like we have done so far.” Indians may go the Hollywood way but it is only the talented, who will let their work speak for themselves worldwide to be known as truly global actors from India! Johnny D
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