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The opposite is true
too. Many talented actors have, through sheer merit, become the
leading man in a bit out-of-the-box films that do not demand the
mainstream chutzpah a Ranbir Kapoor or an Ajay Devgn does or a Salman
Khan does. Nawazuddin Siddiqui graduated from a small role in Peepli
Live to that of a ruthless police officer in Kahani to hero
in Gangs of Wasseypur II.
Irrfan Khan, who was a much-in-demand character actor when he first stepped into films became a hero within a few years, first in low-budget films that few heard about like Haasil and Rog to Vishal Bharadwaj’s Maqbool, the Hindi adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Though he played the lead in Warrior, a British film in 2001, Govind Nihalani’s Drishti (1990) and Mira Nair’s Namesake, it was his brilliant performance in the title role in and as Paan Singh Tomar, has been winning him many accolades. "I am choosy because it’s not my face that sells. My work is what people like and want to see again and again; so I can’t repeat myself. I have to look at the stories, which are exciting, which give me scope to do what I haven't done earlier, which have entertainment, which can engage me for a long period of shooting," Irrfan explains. Sonu Sood, who stepped into low-budget films and in big films in tiny roles, had a good innings in films made in the southern languages till he hit it big as Abhishek Bachchan’s brother in Mani Ratnam’s Yuva and Aishwarya’s brother in Jodhaa-Akbar. This was followed by his lead as a villain in Dabangg. But that does not mean he has been written out of lead roles. One of his major films as hero was the Rajshree banner films’ remake of Tapasya opposite Issha Koppikar in Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi. He was once voted among the 10 best handsome young men in Bollywood. The versatile Vinay Pathak, who is known for wonderful cameos, took centrestage in films like Bheja Fry, Chalo Dilli and Dasvidaniya. He attended State University of New York at Stony Brook and acted in plays. One of his earliest roles was as a police officer in Jism. His portfolio is brimming over with off-mainstream and mainstream films and he is brilliant at whatever he does. Similarly, Boman Irani is another versatile actor who has moved from charactor roles to lead roles with ease. From the Munnabhai series to Three Idiots to Shirin Farhad Ki To Nikal Padi, Boman has left his mark. Deepak Dobriyal, who started out as the sidekick to the character of Langda Tyagi in Omkara, played the lead role in films like Daayen Ya Baayen and Teen They Bhai. "It is rare for a character actor to land a meaty part. They are there as a character to enhance the hero. They don’t have their own individuality," Om Puri said in a recent interview to a news agency. But he has been proved
wrong. Not only are character actors often more important than the
conventional hero in the film, many a time they graduate to hero’s
roles if they are determined to commit themselves to their careers and
also need some luck to back them.
While character actors move centrestage, in a reverse move, even the heroes sometimes have no hang-ups in moving to character roles. Actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Sanjay Dutt, and even Akshay Kumar, fall within these categories. Akshay Kumar played a significant character actor in Bhool Bhulaiya, a villain in Ajnabi and a hero in many films. Sanjay Dutt is another actor who does not seem to care about the positioning and rank of the character he plays provided it adds to his histrionic portfolio. He readily did the terrifying villain in the remake of Agneepath, a character role in Shootout at Lokhandwalla and the hero in umpteen films. These actors have willingly stepped into varied roles that mark the distinction between and among hero, character actor and villain.
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