To Loosers With Love…
Each one of us ,when small ,have dreams…dreams we feel/think will come true once we grow up, and then we pass through these stages in our lives :
1. When everything is so easy…and all your dreams will come true once you grow up, probably till 10-12 years of age.
2. Then we mature a bit and realize ‘OK…life is not that simple…I might just have to try a little harder to realize my dreams, but it still isn’t that difficult’. Probably @ 14-18 years of age.
3. Then we grow a wee bit wiser and mature…and feel ‘Wait a minute it isn’t that easy…actually its much more complex than what you had initially thought…now I am not sure’. This is a stage where you start doubting yourself, and your dreams…Probably @ 20-24 years of age.
4. Then comes a time when one is not sure about anything in life leave aside one’s dreams.
Now having gone through the above said feelings all my life I categorize myself as a perfect looser and when I find a character on screen to whom I can relate to…I just feel so nice to have found someone just like me!!!
In this age of plastic/synthetic life…where everyone is there to outdo each other…where everyone wants to win at any cost…LOSS/LOOSING is a word no one wants to hear about…They say loosing is not an option and the same applies with Cinema…no wonder everyone wants to be a winner in life…but trust me it doesn’t happen everytime…All of us like feel good cinema…movies where our hero is the winner…winner who gets all…
But there are some Directors who created these characters ,characters who were just like us…people who were not perfect…people who had small dreams and tried very hard…people who were almost there,but somehow never managed to make it…
I have just maid a list of all those Innocent/Average/Nice/Happy Go Lucky Losers of Hindi Cinema, I hope you people can relate to it (as I have):
1.ShahRukh of Kabhi Haa Kabhi Naa -
Of all the characters Sunil is closest to my heart, beautifully portrayed by SRK…and probably the last time when he was the character rather than King Khan…
Sunil I feel is someone each one of us can find within ourselves…what happens when Sunil starts understanding …that life is not that simple,when he starts realizing that life is not all about having fun…when the people he loves dont reciprocate the same to him…the way he portrays all these feelings is just commendable.The guy cant even tell a lie to his parents…the way he confesses everything infront of a large crowd which has gathered to celebrate his success (actually he fails in his exam’s) is so heart warming.
One thing that touches me most is the way Sunil takes his loss i.e. with a smiling face…you can really feel for the guy…his heart cries but with a Smile.I can relate to him in every sense, when he fails in exam…when he is thrown out of his music gang…when his father cries in front of him as he consider’s his son “good for nothing”…when he comes to know that Anna (Suchitra Krishnamoorthy) is getting married to Chris (Deepak Tijori)…all that he looses but with a smile.
Better guys always take the cake and our guy is left…Sunil has everything but somehow always falls short :-( .
Thanks to Kundan Shah for giving Sunil to us.
2.Jackie Shroff of Gardish -
Shiva a simple,lower middle class guy whose only dream is to live the dream of his father i.e to become a Police Officer…but how life forces him to become someone he never wanted to be.
Jackie Shroff in a role of lifetime (and one of his best performance till date)…I love Shiva because he is a nice,simple guy with limited ambitions…but somehow life screws him…he struggles very hard to live up to his father’s expectations & tries desperately but…but…your heart cries for the guy whose only mistake was to be at the wrong place at the wrong time….he tries to explain his family/father that he has not done anything wrong…My heart cries for him :-( .
Gardish cannot be complete without mentioning Amrish Puri (Shiva’s father)…played brilliantly by the legend…his act makes me remind of my own father (he depicts the role of an average Indian father to the T)…an Indian father who loves his son more than anything else…but somehow never tells him.
How there lives change…how the realities of life crush their dreams…dreams that never come true.Really a great movie with great characters.
Kudos to Jackie,Amrish Puri & Priyadarshan.
If this was hollywood,Amrish Puri would have surely got an Oscar for his role in Gardish.
3. Vinod and Sudhir of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron -
Well …Good guys always loose and this has been proved by this movie…brilliantly played by Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani (whom,I think is one of those guys whose talents were not recognized/utilized properly)…our guys are always there to help people…but they get screwed by the same people whom they help.
Again these Characters were given to us by Kundan Shah.
The film was ,no doubt ahead of its time…
4. Ankush of Ahista Ahista -
I have recently discovered this movie…to be true ,movie as a whole was just about ok…but what I liked about it most ,was its main protagonist called Ankush (played very well by Abhay Deol)…he again was a boy with small dreams in life…dreams of having a good job…good salary…wife and children….but it never goes the way he planned….he tries very hard to save his dream…but falls short.
Falls short and goes on…alone on his journey of life…
I am sure you will feel for Ankush.
This list by no means is exhaustive, please add on to this list…movies/charecters of any language , any cinema who you think fits the criteria…please add on .I would like to watch all those movies.
PS: Please let me be very clear of my definition of Looser here : average/nice/easy guys…with small aspirations in life. (please dont include those Complex/Physco guys who are killed by there own family members or police)
Regards,
Shitij
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
the biggest loser has to be Somu from Sadma?
Yes I agree, he can be added to the list.
KK has played quite few loser characters, for example, his characters in Corporate, Sarkar and HKA.
Vishnu Prasad from Gayab – that’s another one. Aftab in DMH.
Thanks for that list though,I dont quite agree to that:
KK in all the three movies comes from very rich families…with all luxuries…while he is a physco in Sarkaar…He goes abroad at the end of HKA and leads a good/luxurious life.
Vishnu of Gayab has that POWER with him…thats no looser for me…same goes with Aftab in DMH.
All I am looking for is very simple,average people like you and me.
I am sorry but ,I am not able to explain clearly what I mean (clearly my fault)….but thanks for your thought.
Biggest looser and average guy ever happened to hindi cinema is Amol Palekar. He played this shy, nervous youth in sevral films and looser who gain confidence through training he played in Basu Chaterjee’s Choti si baat. Next to him is Farookh Shekh (Bazar, Umrao Jan etc) and Naseer(Katha). They were average looking persons desiring something but have no guts either to express thir feelings or have less self confidence. a common man can identify with these the characters played by these actors and their appearance and acting is very suitable. Sharukh was very good in KHKN but he is not looser in that sense that he was caught in different profession. He was good in music but was forced to study. His pathos are different. He has enough self confidence to manage the things unlike Amol, Farookh or Naseer’s characters. Shahrukh’s character is very naughty and capable except doing good in studies. He is performer and moreover he loves a girl who loves other guy since begining. Its certain before him and still he tries so he is kind of doer and not looser.
But then he (Sunil) is alone in the end….without his love/friends.
…see what could/would have happened is another story…
yes Sunil was good in music…but that’s what goes with me too…I may be good in something…but I am forced to do something else ,so yes doer he is…I am cent percent with you…but he is neither a winner.
Its our way of seeing things (point of view, so as to say)…I respect your view of Sunil not being a looser.
Naseer in Katha marries Deepti Naval in the end…it is not about the journey I am talking about…its the end/destination which interests me…there are unlimited movies where the protagonist is looser all throughout…but in the end he comes through as a winner…now thats done to death…and that why we are discussing real loosers.
But Amol Palekar…yes he might be as from his looks…but I am not sure if I have seen him a total looser in any movie.(certainly not Choti si baat where he gets the girl in the end)
Biggest losers –
1) Somu in Sadma: definately number 1.
2) kamal Hassan in Saagar.
3) Salman in Kuch Kuch Hota hai – took him to the mandap and then dhakka de diya!
4) Anil Kapoor in Awaargi
5) Sanjay Dutt in Naam
6) Ritesh Deskhmukh in Naach
7) Jackie Shroff in Rangeela
8) Tabu in Jeet
9) Pankaj Kapoor in Maqbool
10) Raj Kapoor in mera Naam Joker
Shitij – if end is the focul point then all those heros who dont get their desired things or heroines are looser and not matter how much warriar they were in the journey. For that Devdas is biggest looser and will always be. Kamal and Rati both were looser in ek duje ke liye, Aamir and Juhi wee loosers. Amitabh and Jaya were loosers in Sholay. Amitabh and Rekha are loosers in Muqaddar ka sikandar. AB is looser in deewar. or we can say whenever a hero is died in a film he shd be looser. But is it true?
My point in not accepting Shahrukh in KHKN was this only that he is not shy or looser type. On the other side he is fighter and never shy to try what he wants. These people are not loosers. Yes he did not get suchitra in the last but he was knowing this since begining that she is not his, but het gets Juhi if we talk about end only. Naseer does not get Deepti as he desire but she comes to him under circumstances. He does not win over her but circumstances make him winner if we say so. He himself could not have got her because he cant express. He can dream but cant fulfil his dreams because of lack in self confidence.
Loser can also imply someone who sucks at life, so from that view those all characters were losers.
Hey sophocles,
Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker – Yes that is really on of the biggest loosers of Cinema. No doubt on that.
If you say Sanjay Dutt in Naam then, what about Sanjay Dutt of Vaastav…they are both Goondaas…and they went on wrong path…I wont consider them.
And then every Guy or Gal who doesnt make the Triangle in Love Story are loosers…I dont know why but I dont agree!!!
Thanks.
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Thanks RK,
Amitabh and Jaya of Sholay are definitely in and if I see from your point of view then I guess you are not wrong.
Some losers are entertaining, like the ones mentioned and naseeruddin shah in mandi and ardhsatya, anil kapoor in my wife’s murder, napolean dynamite(!) & nacho libre(!!)-though they r from the west, kamal hassan(saagar, appu raja), maddy in RHTDM(well, almost)….
BUT!! some r downright annoying, like SRK & Rani in KANK!
Great topic but, the Loser phenomenon still remains the most under-exploited cinematic concept in India…
Yeh, you are right Tushar…SRK and Rani Suck in KANK…I dont know , how can someone be a looser in Manish Malhotra’s designer clothes…Karan Johars lavish sets.
Shitij, in fact it that very sleazy high on form low on substance(err..i mean the substance as in the phrase)setting that ,ade em look all the more sleazy. but consider, Don and see what the same uberkool ambience does to a diff team or a diff director.
more losers…
KK in almost all the films?
atul agnihotri in hum tumhare hain sanam( i know i know…who is he types…)
naseer in iqbal
but…
have you noticed how some guys turn the loser genre into wonderful performances…like
ranvir in almost all films
jackie in some films
or may be the bunch of wannabe’s in RDB..
Ranvir Shorey???
Ya he does that act very well…in Pyaar Ke Side Effects.
…Sharman Joshi and Aamir Khan in RDB.
Thanks for mentioning them.
yes, Ranvir rocks!
he is lately earned the reputation of stealing the applaude from right under the nose of biggies, be it khosla ka ghosla, PKSE, mixed doubles or even the comedy show, he is absoltely not-to-be-missed.
if you remember the film Style, it also had similar entertaining losers..
One more looser I can think of is Aamir Khan of Akele Hum Akele Tum.
This guy never wins despite of having all the talent.
Langda Tyagi (SAK)in Omkara is also a name worth a mention in this list. He is the fulcrum why the film moved the way it did, but heck, the poor guy lost it all. Bahubali is dead. Long live Bahubali!
“Great topic but, the Loser phenomenon still remains the most under-exploited cinematic concept in India
PS – my favorite loser has to be Anil Kapoor from Saheb and Woh 7 Din…