Asrani Kept Amitabh On His Toes

Asrani may have never been a marquee name up in sparkling lights or on outsized posters but the sheer proficiency with which he realised his characters has unleashed gales of laughter over five decades and made a significant contribution to several landmark films.
Dinesh Raheja salutes the iconic actor.

Amitabh Bachchan once surprised me with the names he chose to spotlight when I asked him to comment on his contemporaries.

"I've enjoyed working with people who unfortunately nobody seems to talk about. People like Asrani for instance, and Satyen Kappu and Amjad Khan. As an actor, I have to be on my toes all the time with them.'

The news of Asrani's demise on October 20 reminded me of Amitabh's praise for Asrani's spontaneity in the numerous films they did together like Abhimaan, Sholay and Alaap (in the last, the funster puts up a virtuoso performance: even singing the number Ho Rama Dar Laage in his own voice (!) while an impressed Bachchan accompanies him on the harmonium).

It's true.

Asrani may have never been a marquee name up in sparkling lights or on outsized posters but the sheer proficiency with which he realised his characters has unleashed gales of laughter over five decades and made a significant contribution to several landmark films.

Govardhan Asrani was a born performer who revelled in being the centre of attention.

With a view to trying his luck in films, he joined the newly started Film Institute of India (later renamed the Film and TV Institute of India or FTII) in the mid-1960s. Upon graduation, he learned that a certificate from a film school did not yet ease access into the Hindi film industry.

The curly-haired newbie, albeit a trained actor, did not possess either the height or the looks of a conventional hero, and Bollywood couldn't figure out the right fit for him.

So Asrani did forgettable bit roles in a few films and continued his struggle for five long years.

In the meantime, he sustained himself by teaching at the Film Institute.

Asrani's proactive pursuit of acclaimed director Hrishikesh Mukherji (in whose Satyakam he had cornered a small role) led to the actor being cast in a decent-sized role in Guddi (1971) with fellow FTII alumni, Jaya Bhaduri, playing the lead.

The success of Guddi proved to be a much needed breakthrough for Asrani; and he was in the vanguard of the FTII invasion of Bollywood in the early 1970s powered by Jaya, Shatrughan Sinha, Anil Dhawan, Rehana Sultan and Danny Dengzongpa.

As the brother of Guddi's friend who runs away from a loving home to be a hero but ends up a junior artiste, Asrani's character is both a mirror to and a cautionary tale for the thousands of film aspirants who risk their futures for a starry dream.

Asrani effectively projected both cocky overconfidence initially as well as abject embarrassment in a later scene which clues Guddi in on the dark side of an obsession with films.

Asrani did his best work in the 1970s, often under Hrishikesh Mukherji's baton.

He was next cast in his Bawarchi (1972) as the guitar-strumming wannabe composer who shocks his conservative family with his hilarious song in English: 'Good morning... the morning rays are coming.'

In Mukherji's Abhimaan (1973), Asrani is terrific in a non-comic role as the secretary who constantly warns Amitabh to rein in his fragile-as-China male ego.

This landed him a Best Supporting Actor nomination from Filmfare, but Asrani instead won the Best Actor In A Comic Role award that same year for Rajendra Bhatia's Aaj Ki Taaja Khabar.

The film was a win-win for the actor as it also paired him with his wife-to-be Manju Asrani -- she played the onscreen spouse of his famous character, Champak Bhumia.

The actor cited Sholay (1975) as the film that changed his career.

Indeed, Asrani's impeccable comic timing in the 'Hum angrezon ke zamane ke jailor hai' sequence is justifiably legendary. Asrani is a hoot as the 'khadoos' jailor, swishing his cane while sporting a Hitler-like moustache and uniform, complete with a floppy-haired wig.

His bombastic threats punctuated by a staccato laugh are belied by his stumbling gait and his famous punch line to his prison guards: 'Aadhe idhar jao, aadhe udhar jao. Aur baaki hamare saath aao.'

Middle-of-the-road cinema afforded Asrani a chance to shine.

Gulzar cast him in several films, including Khushboo (1975) which evidenced Asrani's range as he toned down his high-energy antics to play Hema Malini's quietly concerned brother.

In the comedy classic Chhotisi Baat (1976), Basu Chatterji chose Asrani to portray milquetoast Amol Palekar's suave, superconfident motorbike-riding competitor for Vidya Sinha's affections.

Buoyed by his string of successes, Asrani next tried to make the grade as a leading man.

He cast Bindiya Goswami and Zarina Wahab in romantic roles opposite him in self-referentially satirical films like Chala Murari Hero Banne (1977) and Salaam Memsaab (1979) that he himself directed.

But as a leading man, Asrani was more successful in Gujarati films which lavished central characters on him -- he sang popular songs such as Hun Amdavad No Rickshawwalo and romanced the likes of Aruna Irani and Rita Bhaduri. He was prominent there from the late 1970s through much of the 1980s.

In Hindi cinema, comedians were increasingly marginalised from the 1980s onwards.

Tellingly, Asrani bagged 12 nominations from the Filmfare Awards for Best Actor In A Comic Role, but none after 1981.

Still, Asrani survived, often doing double-digit films a year but imparting each role with his infectious histrionic energy.

He went on to do a staggering 500 odd films in all.

In the 1980s, Asrani benefited from being part of a comic team alongside Kader Khan and Shakti Kapoor in a spate of Padmalaya productions hits: Himmatwala, Justice Chaudhary, Mawaali, Qaidi...

In the 2000s, the now veteran humorist was an ineluctably integral component of Priyadarshan's comedy universe in 11 films such as Hulchul, Garam Masala, Bhagambhag, Kyun Ki and Bhool Bhulaiya.

Moreover, his stage shows numbered in thousands, his performance often centering around his 'Attention' command from Sholay.

Even in his 80s, the prolific jokester continued acting in films and drawing laughs with his agile, expressive face combined with his signature voice modulations and sound effects.

Writer-director-lyricist Sanjay Chhel, who worked with Asrani in Kyun Ki, recalls, "A lot of top stars respectfully called him Masterji. He was full of anecdotes and wisdom. He told me that Gautam Buddha had once said that whatever happens in life, one shouldn't get rattled. He added, 'So I say toh kya?'"

"Upon learning of his demise, I am missing him, but if he were around, he would have shot back, 'Main nahin hoon, toh kya?'"

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff