Bollywood in 2017: The Coming of Age of the Character Actor

From Seema Pahwa to Pankaj Tripathi, 2017 has been the year of the character actor.

Seema Pahwa (left), Pankaj Tripathi (centre), Sanjay Mishra (right) impressed the audiences with their power-packed performances in 2017. 

(Photo Courtesy: Erum Gour/The Quint)

That Bollywood is an industry obsessed with star power is a fact universally acknowledged. How else do you make sense of the gargantuan pay-cheques the supposed “superstars” take home after a film? Or the much talked about pay-gap? Numbers determine what you get paid but there ought to be room for talent. A talent so earnest that it immortalises a character forever. A talent that forces one to start a conversation around the never-ending marginalisation of the so-called ‘character actor’.

Would it, then, be right to call 2017 the year which spearheaded a conversation around character artists? The year when the character artist finally got his due after toiling relentlessly for decades? With truckloads of critical acclaim, heartening box office numbers and stupendous audience reactions in their kitty, we can safely say – they have arrived. And how!

Here’s lifting the veil on the spectacular artists who kept us entertained wholeheartedly in 2017:

Seema Pahwa

Seema Pahwa in the iconic ‘Alibaba-Gufa’ scene from Shubh Mangal Savdhan. (Photo Courtesy: YouTube Screenshot)

There’s no other character Bollywood likes stereotyping as much as the ‘mother’. From Nargis to Nirupa Roy and Rakhee to Reema Lagoo, there are examples galore of mothers who are self-effacing and glutted in patriarchy. Slowly though, Bollywood is moving towards a more realistic depiction of the ‘mother’ figure – something that resonates with the changing audiences.

And Seema Pahwa must be credited for turning the tide.

Pahwa is not your regular mother. Her harrowed obsession with her daughter’s marriage leaves us in splits in Bareilly ki Barfi. She, again, wins us over in Shubh Mangal Savdhan while giving her grown up daughter gyaan on sexual intercourse. The analogy with the tale of Alibaba and the gufa is hilarious and heartening at the same time. In fact, she is indispensible to both Bareilly ki Barfi and Shubh Mangal Savdhan.

That she has played mother in three movies in a span of three years (Dum Laga ke Haisha included) and still managed to not give us déjà vu feels speaks volumes about her prowess as an actor.

Pankaj Tripathi

For an actor with such an illustrious body of work, Pankaj Tripathi is a bit of an anomaly. He has done over forty films but it is only now that he is getting recognised as a quality actor. He could very well have lost his way in the big maze that Bollywood is. But 2017 salvaged him, deservedly so.

Anaarkali of Aarah. Newton. Gurgaon. Bareilly Ki Barfi. Fukrey Returns.

Switching effortlessly between a megalomaniacal brooding patriarch (in Gurgaon) and a refreshingly unconventional father who doesn’t shy away from borrowing cigarettes from his daughter when he exhauts his stock (in Bareilly ki Barfi) is no mean feat. But he comes out with flying colours at both instances. He keeps us chortled as Rangeela in Anarkali of Aarah and is equally entertaining as Pandit in Fukrey Returns.

But Pankaj Tripathi’s performance of the year comes in Newton. As a rigid para-military commander standing in the way of Newton’s mission, he holds forte as the skeptical common man, mirroring at times, emotions we have ourselves gone through. It is this interplay of optimism and pessimism that gives depth to the movie.

It’s reassuring to see him reaping the fruits of his labour. The trend must continue.

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub in Raees. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@AamirKhanIndFC)

We cringed at him in No One Killed Jessica . We loved him in Raanjhana. We were chuffed at his quips in Tanu weds Manu.

He left a mark, yet again in 2017, with his performaces in Tubelight and Raees.

2017 also marks the year when the immensely talented Zeeshan Ayyub shared screen, for the first time, with his ‘childhood hero’. For the uninitiated, let’s put it out there – Zeeshan is a self-proclaimed SRK fan. But at no point in time in Raees do we find him clouded by the aura of Shah Rukh Khan. That’s the thing about great actors – they step into the shoes of their character with an uninhibited ease. This is where Chirag (the character he plays in Raees) scores. He is Raees’ (SRK) best friend, confidant and partner-in-crime. Certainly not just another side-kick.

It would not be wrong to call Zeeshan Ayyub the quintessential friend-in-chief on whom Bollywood can safely bet on. Although, he must also be credited, at the same time, for making the audiences see ‘the friend’ in a completely new light!

Deepak Dobriyal

We loved him as Pappi bhaiya in Tanu Weds Manu. But Deepak Dobriyal has been around for over a decade now. With Hindi Medium and Lucknow Central in 2017, he has cemented his position as one of the best supporting actors we have currently. In both the films, he is seen as playing a pivotal role in taking the narrative forward, a far cry from just being a comic embellishment.

Going by the sheer range of his performances – Omkara, Gulaal and the upcoming Kaalakaandi – we can’t wait to see more of Deepak Dobriyal in the years to come.

Sanjai Mishra

Sanjai Mishra in a still from Anaarkali of Aarah.

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube Screenshot)

Dum Laga Ke Haisha. Masaan. Ankhon Dekhi . Bunty aur Babli. Dilwale. Jolly LLB. Phas Gaya Re Obama. One Two Three.

The very range is gobsmacking.

After all this, if I say that now, in 2017 – almost two decades after his debut – is when Sanjai Mishra has finally arrived, I would be doing a great disservice to his coveted filmography. At the same time, however, I would also be exposing the deep-seated hypocrisy in all of us as cinegoers. It is a shame that fame should touch an actor, who has proved his prowess in both mainstream and offbeat cinema, so late. Nonetheless, it is heartening to see him basking in the glory of his successes.

That he carried Kadvi Hawa on his shoulders, ably supported by Ranvir Shorey and Tillotama Shome, comes as no surprise. He plays the protagonist here and his sheer brilliance (and the movie at large) deserve a closer look, perhaps another article. But his roles in Anaarkali of Aarah, Newton and Golmaal Again – none of these being lead roles – are, at present, the subject of my scrutiny. He evokes spite as the lecherous and conniving Vice Chancellor in Anaarkali and wins adulation with his witty one-liners and pearls of wisdom in Newton – a testimony to his malleable mastery over the craft.

Divyendu Sharma

Divyendu Sharma in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha.

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube Screenshot)

Divyendu Sharma is like a breath of fresh air in a film that is largely a paean to the government's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. He plays his part to perfection and injects fresh energy in the film with his buoyancy. But an impeccable comic timing has been Divyendu’s forte. Remember how he lifted Pyaar ka Punchnama with his nerve-crackling humour? In Toilet : Ek Prem Katha, he aces his part of the sidekick with a certitude few actors can boast of.

It would however be refreshing to see the actor choose roles which do not just keep him restricted to the comedy genre. And for that, we wait, with bated breath.

Vikrant Massey

Vikrant Massey in a still from Half Girlfriend. 

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube Screenshot)

In a largely forgetful film like Half Girlfriend, the only thing worth remembering is Vikrant Massey. No seriously! If there was one person who got the Bihari accent right, it is him. It isn’t perfect but it surely seems music when compared to Arjun Kapoor’s forced blabbering. As Shailesh, he plays the perfect wingman to Arjun Kapoor and brightens up the screen every time he walks in the frame.

And just when you thought, he has been successfully relegated to the ‘friend-of the-hero category’, he pulled off A Death in the Gunj. And lest we forget, Vikrant is unassailable even as a douchebag – a character riding against the tide in Lipstick Under My Burkha.

In fact, his is a career graph worth closer introspection. He has slowly but successfully made the transition from TV to films, leaving imprints with every performance – Balika Vadhu, Dil Dhadakne Do, Lootera to name a few. Way to go, Massey!