New Delhi: Chunky Panday’s profession in Indian cinema is a mixture of fleeting stardom, reinventions, and worldwide recognition within the unlikeliest of locations. From his debut within the late Nineteen Eighties to turning into ‘Bangladesh ka Amitabh Bachchan’, Panday’s journey is marked by moments of promise that by no means fairly blossomed into sustained success in India.
He made a latest look on Two A lot With Kajol and Twinkle Khanna, shedding gentle on the early phases of his profession. Regardless of his dad and mom, each medical doctors, having connections within the fraternity, he needed to wait 4 to 5 years for his debut—‘Aag Hello Aag’ in 1987. Nonetheless, recognition got here a 12 months later with Tezaab, the place he performed Babban.
Although not a standard hero, Panday had a boy-next-door allure and comedian timing that received over the viewers. It appeared that he was set to turn out to be a reliable Bollywood star. However, simply as his profession was starting to take off, the trade shifted gears.
The early 90s ushered in a brand new wave of main males, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan, adopted by Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn in subsequent years.
Presents started to dry up, and the roles he did land have been usually forgettable. By the mid-90s, his profession in Bollywood had all however stalled. This marked one of many lowest factors in his journey, a promising actor lowered to enjoying aspect roles or disappearing from mainstream cinema altogether.
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A lead hero in Bangladesh
Satirically, at this level in his profession, Panday discovered success outdoors India. He turned to Bangladesh’s movie trade, the place he not solely discovered regular work but additionally achieved stardom. He starred in a number of Bangladeshi blockbusters from 1995 to 1999/2000, reverse prime actresses, and in contrast to his profession in India, he was forged because the lead hero. His success there stood in stark distinction to his fleeting fame in India.
On his return to Bollywood within the 2000s, he might solely safe low-key roles, principally in multi-starrers or comedies. However the competitors was intense; subsequently, he couldn’t give a memorable efficiency till 2010 in Housefull.
His second innings in Housefull, the place he performed “Aakhri Pasta”, was thought-about the resurrection of the actor’s profession in Bollywood, because the viewers had loved his comedic aptitude. He turned a cult determine. Panday reprised his function of Aakhri Pasta within the Houseful collection. However but once more, the excitement quickly fizzled out.
Now, as Panday revealed on Two A lot With Kajol and Twinkle Khanna, he’s headed for one more worldwide innings. This time in Nepal.
Panday’s profession is an instance of how expertise doesn’t at all times equate to long-term success. He tasted fame, misplaced it, discovered it elsewhere, after which returned to carve a distinct segment in supporting roles. Although Chunky’s iconic characters and contours stay common in comedy units, he couldn’t actually contact stardom.
The actor informed Kajol and Twinkle that, initially, he was recognized within the trade due to his dad and mom, and now he is named Ananya Panday’s father. “My very own success lasted for barely a 12 months,” he added.
Within the highs of early Bollywood fame and the lows of near-obscurity, Chunky Panday’s story stays certainly one of Bollywood’s most underrated.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)
