Paresh Rawal born on 30th May 1950 is a renowned Bollywood actor of Gujrati Origin. He was born in Mumbai in a Gujrati family. He is one of the most terrific and diverse actors to have graced the silver screen and has many acclaimed performances under his belt. There is nothing that this actor can’t portray on screen, be it a villains roles, supporting roles or comic roles.
He made his Bollywood debut in the 1984 movie called Holi. During the early part of his career he mainly did negative and supporting roles. All throughout the 80’s and 90’s, he was only seen in serious character roles or negative villain riles, but since 2000, he was mainly acted in comic movies. Before venturing into main stream Bollywood he won critical acclaim when he starred in the Telugu movie Kshana Kshanam. The movie won him instant recognition and his role of a bank robber became the talk of the town. After that he featured in numerous films like Pehla Nasha, Maya Memsaab, King uncle, Phool aur Angaar, Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja, Damini and almost all the aforementioned movies saw him playing the role of a vilian.
The year 1993 proved to be a turning point for Paresh Rawal as his movie Sir opposite
Naseeruddin Shah and Pooja Bhat turned out to be a big commercial and critical success. His Portrayal of Veljibhai the soft hearted Gangster won him a crescendo of applause from the industry. He won the national and Filmfare award for best Villian. In 1994, he featured in a double role in the comedy blockbuster Andaaz Apna Apna featuring Amir Khan,
Salman Khan,
Raveena Tandon and
Karishma Kapoor. Paresh known for his villain and character roles stole the limelight in this comic movie as his performance was termed the highlight of this movie. In the year 1995, more success followed in the shape of Raja the movie featuring Sanjay Kapoor and
Madhuri Dixit. He played the role of Sanjay Kapoor’s mentally challenged brother and his performance won him a nomination in the Filmfare awards.
After that more success followed with movies like Hero No 1, Judaai, Tamanna for which his performance as Hijra was hailed loudly by the critics and film fraternity, Gupt, Mr and Mrs Khiladi, Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan, Haseena Maan Jaayegi and the super duper hit Vaastav.
In the year 2000, he starred in the hilarious comedy Hera Pheri opposite
Akshay Kumar,
Sunil Shetty and
Tabu. The movie became a super hit and till date is Paresh Rawal’s biggest grosser. His role of Baburao Ganpatrao Apte has since been immortalized and it is recalled as the best performance of his entire career. The movie belonged entirely to Paresh and he completely overshadowed and outdid accomplished heroes like Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty. He went on to win the Filmfare award for best comedian. After that more comic success came to him with movies like Awara Paagal Deewana, Chor Machaaye Shor, Kehta Hai Dil baar baar, Hungama, Hulchul, Garam Masala and Malamaal Weekly. In 2006, he acted in another comic movie Phir Hera Pheri. The movie was a sequel to the successful Hera Phera and like its first part turned out to be a huge box office success.
In 2010, Paresh made to comeback to serious and negative cinema when he starred in the drama film Rann opposite Amitabh Bachan. He played the role of a corrupt politician Mohan Pandey. The movie was a major critical success and Paresh Rawal’s return to serious cinema was hailed.
Paresh Rawal is married to former Miss India winner Swaroop Sampat. He won the famous title back in 1979. The couple have two sons Aniruddh and Aditya.
