Birthday Special: 5 must-watch comedies starring Paresh Rawal

Paresh Rawal celebrates his 68th birthday today. Born on May 30, 1955, in Mumbai, Paresh Rawal made his acting debut in the 1985 film Arjun in a supporting role. He also appeared in Doordarshan’s television series Bante Bigadte. He has starred in over 100 Bollywood films since his breakthrough performance in 1986 with Naam and is known for his versatile acting abilities. His performances have received critical acclaim in both dramatic and comedic roles.

Some of his notable films include Hera Pheri, Andaz Apna Apna, Aankhen, Welcome, OMG: Oh My God!, and Pher Hera Pheri. Moreover, he has also appeared in several Gujarati plays and films and has won multiple awards for his performance, including the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1994 for his work in Woh Chokri and Sir. He has also won three Filmfare awards for his performance in Sir (1994), Hera Pher (2001) and Awara Paagal Deewana (2003).

Celebrating his birthday today, let’s take a look at some of his most iconic comic characters.

Hera Pheri

One of Paresh Rawal’s greatest performances is his depiction of Baburao Ganpatrao Apte in this comic movie. The film, which was directed by Priyadarshan, chronicles the comic mishaps of three jobless males looking for a way to get out of their financial restraints. Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, and Tabu play the leading characters in the movie. Even today, memes made from movie sequences are still quite popular due to the movie’s enormous popularity.

Andaz Apna Apna

Paresh Rawal’s portrayal of Ram Gopal Bajaj and his evil-twin brother Shyam Gopal Bajaj is one of the most iconic characters from the cult classic comedy film Andaz Apna Apna, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. To this date, his portrayal of these characters is quite popular and various memes of his dialogues such as “Teja main hoon mark idhar hai,” “Bread ka raja aur Omelette ka badshah…Bajaj…Hamara Bajaj” and many more.

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? is a hilarious comedy film where Paresh Rawal played the titular ‘Atithi’ Lambodar Chacha who becomes the unwelcome guest in Puneet (Ajay Devgn) and Munmun’s (Konkona Sen sharma) house.

Hungama

Directed by Priyadarshan, Hungama features an ensemble cast including Akshaye Khanna, Aftab Shivdasani, and Rimi Sen with Shakti Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav, Tiku Talsania and Shoma Anand in supporting roles. In the film, Paresh portrays the lead role of the uneducated businessman Radheshyam Tiwari who gets caught up in the chaos of mishaps and also misunderstands that his wife Anjali is having an affair with the Videocon shop owner, Jeetu (Akshaye Khanna).

OMG: Oh My God!

Released in 2012, Umesh Shukla’s OMG: Oh My God!, was one of the thought-provoking films, based on the Gujarati stage-play Kanji Virudh Kanji. In the film, Paresh Rawal portrays the lead character  Kanji Lal Mehta, a Gujarati shop owner who makes the decision to sue God in court after an earthquake destroys his store.