Naseeruddin Shah Turns 72: 6 Times The Veteran Delivered A Tour-De-Force Performance
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The Veteran Turns 72
Naseeruddin Shah has been synonymous with one power-packed performance after the other. In a career spanning five decades, the veteran has wowed us with several memorable performances. On his birthday, let us look back on some of his stellar on-screen outings.
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The ‘Angry Young Man’ Of Indie Cinema
If mainstream films had Amitabh Bachchan as the symbol of the disgruntled youth against institutional injustices, then Indian indie movies had the equivalent, in Naseeruddin Shah. In the 1980 black comedy-drama ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyu Aata Hai’, Shah's Pinto was the epitome of disillusioned working-class youth, fuelled by righteous anger towards his circumstances. Shah was pitch-perfect as Pinto, an ambitious and volatile young car mechanic who’s desperate to move up the social ladder and get in the good books of his oppressors.
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The Jilted Lover
This 1987 Vijaya Mehta directorial 'Pestonjee' was an intimate and touching depiction of the daily lives of the Parsi community of Mumbai. Shah delivered a spectacular performance as Phiroj Shah, a painfully shy man who fails to convey his feelings for the woman he loves and silently watches her get hitched to his best friend.
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The Predator
It is a testament to how formidable an actor Shah really is - he manages to get under the skin of the viewer as a lecherous, arrogant, and autocratic subedar in the 1987 Ketan Mehta film ‘Mirch Masala’. As ‘Sarkar’, he is the epitome of male entitlement and aggression.
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The Simpleton
If Sarkar made you recoil with disgust, Tungrus, an idealistic lackey who wants to help his employer Rukmini Bai (Shabana Azmi) escape the confines of the brothel, will move you to tears. Although he was not the leading man in Shyam Benegal’s ‘Mandi’, Shah’s earnest performance made Tungrus the heart of this 1983 brothel saga.
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6/7
Daddy Issues
In ‘Masoom’, Shah delivered a subtle yet sensitive performance as Devendra Kumar, a man whose carefully balanced life and marital bliss go into a toss after he comes to know about an illegitimate son he fathered. Shah was brilliant as a man who is torn between his obligations to his family and newfound feelings towards his son.
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7/7
The Dead Patriarch
Shah was just perfect as this long-dead patriarch, who communicates with his wife from a portrait in the 2008 romantic coming-of-age drama ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’. Shah’s flamboyant Amar Singh Rathore will make you smile and also feel a tad bit wistful.
