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Bollywood
Stars
Who Played 'Reel
Life' Mumbai
Cops
Uday Tarra Nayar
Bollywood and
the Mumbai Police
have an enduring,
and sometimes,
even endearing
relationship;
though it is difficult
to say, who draws
glamour from whom.
Noted film journalist
and author Uday
Tarra Nayar has
had a ring side
view of Bollywood
for decades. In
the following
article, she captures
Bollywood's fascination
for crime-based
scripts, in which
the top cops'
roles have always
been played by
iconic stars from
Dilip Kumar to
Amitabh Bachchan
to Akshay Kumar
and a variety
of others. But
surprisingly,
it's the suave
and lean faced
old timer, late
Iftekhar Khan,
who comes to mind
when you think
of the Mumbai
Police Commissioner,
because he played
the top cop's
role more times
than most others.
In the majority
of Bollywood movies
centering on crime
and punishment,
the character
of the police
chief is either
obnoxiously negative
or unrealistically
positive. There
are only a handful
of films in which
the police chief
is portrayed as
a police chief
should be portrayed
and as he is in
real life. Ram
Gopal Varma's
Company is rated
as a good example
of realistic characterization
and portrayal
of a the Mumbai
Police chief largely
because Varma
is said to have
based the look
of the character
on Mr. D. Sivanandhan,
the new police
commissioner of
Mumbai who was
the Crime Branch
head in Mumbai
in the late 1990s
when the stringent
Maharashtra Control
of Organised Crime
Act was implemented
and nearly 200
gangsters and
criminals were
shot dead.
Mohanlal, the
Malayalam cinema
superstar, was
roped in by Varma
to play the character,
thereby cracking
a casting coup.
Those who knew
Mr. D. Sivanandhan
well and watched
the film, Company,
out of sheer curiosity
felt that the
fictitious police
chief bore very
little physical
resemblance to
Mr. Sivanandhan
but they were
happy to admit
that Mohanlal
in the critical
and more dramatic
junctures of the
story when the
police chief is
called upon to
take drastic measures
to fight those
criminals who
had the backing
of people in positions
of power, was
brilliant. They
felt he behaved
exactly the way
Mr. Sivanandhan
behaved in such
circumstances
and he was able
to present a convincing
picture of a strong,
upright and reasonable
police officer
without the high-pitch
drama usually
resorted to by
actors while enacting
such characters.
“I was not
asked by the director
to behave or speak
like Mr. Sivanandhan,”
said Mohanlal
in a conversation
with me after
the film's release
when he was recognized
for his performance
at every award
function that
year. “I
have observed
a couple of friends
I have who are
in top positions
in the police
force and I have
noted that they
appear ever so
calm and unruffled
while discharging
their duties in
the most testing
circumstances.
It is only in
films that police
officers are made
to appear larger
than life,”
Mohanlal elaborated.
Some of the more
larger than life
characterizations
of IPS officers
have been enacted
by Amitabh Bachchan.
In fact, if one
were to take a
count, Amitabh
Bachchan comes
a close second
to Iftekhar who
played the police
officer in every
film released
in the Sixties
and Seventies.
My personal favourite
has always been
Amitabh Bachchan
right from Zanjeer,
which shot him
to stardom, to
Khaki released
a few years ago.
The intensity
in his eyes, the
power in his voice,
the squaring of
his shoulders,
the blows he dealt
to the criminals,
the firmness with
which he delivered
the crisp lines
were never easy
to match and none
of his contemporaries
who played the
men in Khakee
uniforms in the
'Seventies could
rival him. Raj
Kumar Santoshi's
Khakee, I am told,
was specially
written for the
sixty plus actor,
keeping in mind
his switch over
to character roles.
In Khakee he played
a senior police
official on the
verge of retirement.
After a long tenure
as an upright,
unyielding and
patriotic officer
he takes up one
last challenge
in the hope of
getting an honourable
retirement. The
character was
luminously written
and built up so
sensitively by
Santoshi that
the aging actor
took centre stage
in the unfolding
of the drama and
left an indelible
impact on viewers.
Ramesh Sippy's
Shakti was yet
another film in
which the Police
Commissioner's
character was
drawn somewhat
realistically.
As is his wont,
Dilip Kumar worked
painstakingly
on the delicate
nuances of the
character and
made it memorable.
Among the younger
actors it was
Aamir Khan who
surprised keen
viewers with a
convincing portrayal
of an IPS officer
in Sarfarosh.
He looked smart
in plain clothes
and behaved like
a proper Crime
Branch officer
in some situations.
Ajay Devgan has
played the police
officer in a couple
of films or more.
Nothing to write
home about. In
Masti he played
a comic policeman
and the masses
loved him. For
that matter Nana
Patekar, too,
played a funny
police inspector
in Bhooth and
viewers liked
the caricature
immensely. Such
characters make
one wonder whether
there are such
funny guys in
the police force.
The actresses
who have played
strong police
officers on screen
are Vijay Shanti,
Rekha and Juhi
Chawla in my memory.
Vijay Shanti's
performance in
Tejaswini got
her wide acclaim
despite its exaggerations
and larger than
life strengths.
Once, when I met
Meeran Borwanker
for an interview
at her office
in Mumbai, I asked
her what she thought
of the way women
police officers
were portrayed
in Hindi cinema
and she just laughed
away the question
saying “when
you talk of mass
cinema you know
it has nothing
to do with reality.”
However, some
Bollywood movies
have drawn inspiration
from reality while
depicting police
officers.
A senior officer
of the Mumbai
Crime Branch whose
character inspired
a film portrayal
is that of ACP
Khan, played with
aplomb by Sanjay
Dutt in Apoorva
Lakhia's Shoot
Out At Lokhandwala.
Since Sanjay personally
knew ACP Khan
in real life and
was familiar with
the awe and aura
he exuded when
the very name
Khan spelt terror
in the crime world,
he could play
the character
to near perfection.
The film understandably
was a box-office
success in Mumbai
territory because
it was based on
true incidents
and everybody
knew the true
stories of ACP
Khan's encounters
with underworld
dons.
The Ram Gopal
Varma production
Ab Tak Chappan
directed by Shimit
Amin is another
film believed
to have drawn
inspiration vaguely
from the character
of Daya Nayak
and his encounters
during his tenure
in the Encounter
Squad of the Mumbai
Police. Nana Patekar
made the role
and the film a
huge success with
his effortless
performance.
Now that Mr. Sivanandhan
is back and Mumbai
is experiencing
the vibes of confidence
and courage he
is spreading,
may be Ram Gopal
Varma will be
tempted to make
Company II with
Mohanlal again
as the police
chief.
(Uday Tarra Nayar
is at present
Head of Entertainment
Bureau, Sahara
India Pariwar)
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