Once more. Review on Unforgettable Bollywood Characters

Most of the reviews in this section so far have been about endearing or enduring characters. Some have written about landmark characters, whereas some have written about characters that had an impact on Bollywood. I could do the same, but then, this review would be no different from others. I have decided to do a slightly different take on the unforgettable characters. Many times what makes the characters unforgettable are the dialogues, the songs … I want to cover here some of the lines of our movies that have withstood the test of time.

How can any article about great dialogues be complete without honorable mention of the greatest movie of them all – Sholay? Here too it hits the mark with not 1 or 2 but 4 famous lines.

1) Abbe O Samba ……

Gabbar Singh and Amjad Khan both shot to fame … and as long as Gabbar will be remembered so will the servile Samba, who had nothing to do in the movie but say – do sarkar … Why this particular line and not the equally popular jo dar gaya who mar gaya ... or bahut nainsaafi hai? I personally picked this one coz it started a craze, a trend which lives on in colleges even today. Even today it is very common for the dunce or the fool of the group to be called Samba … even the kid at the chai-wala shops is a Samba … Abbe o Samba, 2 chai to lana ….

2) Mausi chakki peesing and peesing …

Veeru on top of the water tank convincing Mausi to get Basanti married to him, threatening her with suicide.

No Dharam paaji imitation can be complete without this hilarious dialogue. Very well picturized, dramatized and acted in …. What still comes to mind are the brilliantly comic emotions running across the face of Leela Mausi.

3) Ha ha! Hum angrezon ke zamane ke jailer hain … ha ha!!

An over-acting, loud Asrani with a Hitler moustache and ridiculous shorts, but every mention of Sholay also brings about the mention of the cranky good at heart jailer that has inspired so many spoofs since then.

4) Chal Dhanno aaj teri Basanti ki ijjat ka sawal hai …

The speeding horse, Hema with hair flying in the air whipping the horse, the accented Hindi. I am sure you guys can visualize it as well as me.

Enough said about Sholay … moving on to other lines …

5) Mogambo khush hua ….

Need I even elaborate on this one? Probably the most famous dialogue Bollywood has given us. Kudos Amreesh Puri.

6) Mujhse dosti karoge?

The mini-skirt flaunting innocent Dimple aka Bobby asks Rishi Kapoor. Setting a million hearts aflutter in the 70’s, she is responsible for the best ice-breaker that is still poplar in colleges today.

7) Mumbai ka king kaun?

And indeed Mumbai was blown away by Bhiku Mhatre. For moths after, you could hear kids on streets yelling this, people at Bandstand trying it out … it gives hope to the millions who come to the city of dreams to make it their own.

8) Hata saawan ki ghata

Govinda bhai, hats off … the biggest success of this line was that it has now become an undeniable part of Mumbai slang.

9) Main to nanha sa, munha sa chhota sa bachha hoon

Shakti Kapoor in Chaalbaaz… kinda gets on your nerves the way he says it … but hell … the line has still persisted, along with the equally infamous main tera balllllma

10) Kaun kambakht hai jo bardasht karne ke liye peeta hai …

The greatest lover and greatest loser of them all – Devdas … The intense hatred in his voice for Chandramukhi and the underlying pathos of it all. Hum to peete hain ki jee sakein … The brilliant acting of Dilip Kumar and even Shahrukh after all these years makes it even more memorable.

11) Main hoon crime master Goga

I battled over which line of his to pick … but then I decided that all of them were gems … you pick your favourite one.

12) Vijay Hazare said to Vijay Merchant …

Amitabh proving he is a masterful comedian as well … One of the best received monologues of all times.

13) Pushpa – yeh aansu bahut keemti hain re …

The melancholy Rajesh Khanna delivering this line with his unmistakable style and loads of panache… No to mention the Bengali dhoti, long hair and slight tilt of the head.

14) k..k..k..k.. kiran

And hamming was born !!

15) Aati kya khandala

All taporis took personal pride in eve-teasing with this brilliant line … Unforgettable song as well.

16) Mere paas maa hai

Deewar … Shashi Kapoor Amitabh Bachchan face-off … need I say more?

17) Yeh ghoda-chatur ghoda-chatur … ek sur mein pakad ke gaa na

Mehmood the comic genius set the trend, which to this day has become a precedent for caricaturizing South-Indians in Bollywood movies.

There are several more … a couple of noteworthy mentions –

Us ne meri aatma ko chhooa hai (Aishwarya Rai – hum dil de chuke sanam)

Don’t mind (Sonali – Sarfarosh)

Tunna Tunna – yet another Shakti Kapoor gem

Socha kahaan … sirf pyaar kiya (Dimple – Bobby)

Abba dabba jabba (Upasana – Judaai)