Back to the Movies ! Back to the 90s

Anthony Quinn holds the distinction of winning an Academy award for the shortest screen time in a movie. His total screen time in the movie Lust for Life was 9 minutes. There have been few other close runners like Beatrice Straight winning it for Network (10 mins Screen time) , Jane Alexander nominated for All the President's man (12 mins) but surely not many who have captured the attention of critics and audiences alike in a brief span of time
These few have defined / redefined the word "cameo"

Now i have been blabbering about these cameos in hollywood just to put in perspective another aimless mail exchange i was having with a college friend of mine. He out of the blue just mailed me asking what is the single best cameo in the history of indian cinema

And i was prompt (i ususally deliberate when somebody asks my opinion) ; Sunny Deol in Damini i replied. And i was so convinced about this one that i did not want to hear any other name. He told me about Gabbar in Sholay and Pran in Zanzeer. He told me about Rajesh Khanna in Safar and Salman Khan in KKHH. He tried to force the issue with SRK in Army / Shakti or Sunny Deol himself in Border ( PS: i dont agree that was a cameo)

But to my movie flithy mind i could not think beyond the drunken lawyer Govind in Damini. The guy who had a punch which weighed 2.5 kg, a voice which weighed more and eyes which though drooping in liquor were red with anger

A lot of credit needs to go to Rajkumar Santoshi and his team for writing some of the most dramatic lines delivered. Dialogues like

1. Samjhao ise chaddha, aise khilone (knife) kisee bhee bazaar mein mil jaate hain par inhe khelne ke liye jo jigar chahiye woh kisee bazaar mein nahin milta

2. Judge order order karta rahega aur tu pit ta rahega

3. Chillao mat varna case yaheen rafa dafa kar doonga na tareeq na gawah ...

4. Tumne kabhi bacchon ke chidhiyaghar mein sher par patthar maarte dekha hai
Khule maidaan mein sher ka saamne karoge to apne mard hone ki galatfehami door ho jaayegi

However inspite of the great lines, the way the punjab de puttar da puttar essayed that role cannot be captured by these lines. The way he waved his hand to dismiss people, the way he used his voice to deliver the lines, they way he used his eyes more than his voice is something which is inimitable. Also how we managed to ensure that even with over the top dialogues, the acting seemed real ensured that he earned a national award for a role which was less than 30 minutes

I still remember that in some of the movie theaters in Delhi people used to stand outside the theatre to just hear the lines (it was not the multiplex era)

Tareeq par Tareeq Tareeq par Tareeq echoed through the theatre walls into the streets

All in all Sunny Deol a very limited actor in terms of talent and verstality just got the role of his lifetime and fitted it to a Tee.

Bollywood is known either for its star guest apperances or item numbers but here it was a cameo which Sunny Deol did in Damini for which he will be remembered for. Not to undermine Ghayal where he played the lead and again won a national award, Damini is and will remain Sunny's best performance


With Khans hogging all the limelight these days, a Roshan Akbar dancing with Jodha, a waiter giggling his way to box office success and some star kid boys showing their feminine butt .... we long for a Sunny Deol kind of performance because jab Sunny click karta hai to box office chalta nahin hit ho jaata hai

FYR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Br-qhNo0wo