I have always wanted to write a review on this topic but kept getting confused between the word ’’Cameo’’ , and ’’special appearances’’
I am finally going by the Dictionary meaning of the word Cameo which is :
To make a BRIEF BUT IMPACTFUL appearance in a film:
My choices range from short to substantial roles in the film.
Also as the word Cameo would convey, none of my choices below have anything to do with actual plot of the movie, save for one , and only have a brief stint in the films.
There is bound to be some debates and disagreements
on this topic or about my choices, but we will see as it comes :)
- Kishore Sahu in Guide
This man played the role of Waheeda’s husband. A chauvinistic man, who believes he actually uplifted Waheeda .ie. Rosy from her wretched life and who expects her to thank him every minute of her life, for it. He excelled as an obsessed archeologist who has no time for his wife.
His contempt and indifference for Rosy becomes the turning point in her life when she decides to end her life and later ’’guides’’ her way to the world of fame and stardom. Some stinging , impactful dialogues between him and Waheeda makes you want to question our patriarchial society and male dominating views and leaves a disturbing impact.
- Crime Master Gogo in Andaz apna apna
one of the most popular choices for ’’the unforgettable bollywood characters’’ section, he drives you nuts whenever hes comes on screen.
’’aankhen nikaal ke gotiya khelunga’’ and ’’dhaki chiki, dhaki chiki’’ (when he comes to know there is no goli in the gun ) have become an indelible part of this man.
Crime master gogo i.e Shakti kapoor was not the main villain really here, but
he somehow captured the audience’s heart with his batman like costume and screeching dialogues. I love his cycle scene, where he says.. if not the money, atleast let me take the cycle and blabbers some gibberish for the (out of nowhere created black colored) gate to open.
3.Preity Zinta in DilSe
An otherwise boring movie void of any acting by SRK and Manisha, suddenly looks fun-filled and bubbly when ’’Fresh-mint’’ Zinta comes up as a mallu girl using terms like ’’mandan’’ and ’’SKP’’.
FYI the former means an ’’idiot’’ in malayalam - lol
and innocently says ’’ tum aadmi to theek type ke hona, pyaar tum ladki se karte the, par bhaag aadmi ke peeche rahe the ’’ lol
4.Archana P.S as ’’Misss Briganza aaahhaha’’ in KKHH
Naughty, chirpy and hot Mrs Briganza who is all over Anupam Kher remains memorable for even those who couldnt stand Kuch Kuch hota hai, the film.
when she wants to convey that Mr Malhotra + Miss Briganza = Mrs Malhotra, fluttering her eyes, she goes... ’’Miss Briganza’’ then looks at Anupam Kher and goes ’’Mr Malhotra’’ and twirling her eyes and closing her fist, pointing to herself .... coyly hisses ... ’’Mrsssss Malhotra’’ and lets out a little squeal.
Archana puran singh, not exactly versatile can however put life into such short and sensuous roles.
5.Delnaz Paul as ’’Sweetu’’ in Kal ho na ho
Delnaz Paul is a natural ’’sweetu’’ with a childlike mind and round body.
Shes cute, silly and yet ambitious and wants to date goodlooking guys.
Shes a refreshing change in the first half, whenever shes seen with the perpetually boring (surprise surprise) ’’our same minty Zinta’’ (who has decided to, be as boring as Dil-Se Manisha here - lol to display her ’’assorted’’ acting talents.)
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uuhhhh only 5 so far, 5 more to go.
This cameo role listing seems to be a very tough part. Any good character roles I think of, turns out to be a special appearance role or a role having significant importance to the movie’s plot. Its becoming tricky to list the Best Cameos and also to ensure that it strictly adheres to the dictionary meaning.
...... ok continuing ...........
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6.Sushant Singh in Kaun
it was a dark stormy night with danger lurking both inside and outside the house.
The house already has a maniac and an unsuspecting victim and now along comes a thief. This ’’three character’’ movie left me in awe of Sushant Singh whom I again saw in a lead role in ’’The Legend of Bhagat Singh’’
Sushant in Kaun plays a role of a thief who is as confused as the other guy in the house and pretends to be cop who has come to protect Urmila.
7.Asrani in Sholay
As the dumb jailor and as a spoof on Hitler, when you think Asrani, the first things that come to your mind are ’’ aadhe iss taraf jao, aadhe uss taraf jaao
aur baaki mere peeche aao ’’ - lol
and ’’hamare hote hue, jail mein suranng , hum angrez ke zaamane ke jailor hain’’ . One memorable role of a jailor who makes a fool of himself and lets you guffaw a few times and doesnt come back again for the rest of the movie.
8.Upasna Singh in Judaai
Shes my all time favorite as the ’’abba-dabba-jabba girl’’. I think I have mentioned her in ’’unforgettable bollywood characters’’ topic as well.
She plays the role of this ’’dumb’’ girl who can only say three words ’’abba-dabba-jabba’’. Her scenes with Johnny Lever while putting rangoli and later with Paresh Rawal are mind blowing not to mention the suhaag raat scene. Thats when Johny says ’’’’’’’’ bhagwaan tere tape-recorder mein PLAY ka button lagana bhulgaye’’’’’’ lol !
9.Annu Kapoor as ’’Guldasta’’ in Tezaab
As poor ambitious singer who never got any chances to become a singer,
he has to earn his living by running a Tea-shop outside a college. His role was very interesting in the film. Its technically not a ’’cameo’’ since his role has something to do with the end of the movie, but its defly not a special appearance (as that would be Chunky Pandey).
Guldasta gets conned by the villains in the film and he manages to ’’break’’ the munna-mohini romance under the greed of getting a musical ’’break’’.
He later manages to re-unite them as well at the cost of his life.
- Johnny Walker in Anand
The last one is a tribute the famous comedian and supporting role actor in all Dev/Guru Dutt movies. His ’’cameo’’ role as a gujarati stage artist who comes across Anand on the road is quite memorable. So is his brief stint in Kamal’s Chachi 420.
Perhaps the only cameo roles he has ever done are the above two.
Rest of his movies have him , having his own little sub-plots with some choicest songs and his own set of pretty heroines (remember KumKum and the pretty girl in Mr and Mrs 55 ?)
I end my list here. I would defly like to add other popular cameo role performers of Hindi cinema.
i.e Paresh Rawal, Anupam Kher , Nasserudding Shah/Om puri (though their roles have a lot more substance than a cameo), Iftekar (a permanent cop) and Helen.
Alok Nath (sugar dad) and A.K Hangal (however irritating) are popular cameo choices for the roles of helpless dads and grandads. The vampish Lalita Pawars, Bindus and Shashikalas have done good justices to cameo roles too and infused life into their performances.
My review ends here !!! comments awaited ...