5 Great Gangster Bosses in Hindi Films

There was a time when it was pre-requisite for the gangster of a Hindi film to have a huge mansion, with sliding doors, strobe lights, lava pits and dancing girls (along with the well stocked bar full of VAT 69 Bottles). However, with the advent of that strange thing called 'Realism' in Hindi Cinema, the size of these huge halls of pain+pleasure reduced, and we got people living in Joint Families in bungalows or in Chawls, not entirely as impressive. Yet, overall the lot of Gangsters in Indian cinema has been memorable, and we present to you the first edition on our series on Hindi Filmy Mafia by giving you a list of 5 Great Gangster Bosses in the hindi film industry, with a promise of more to follow in a later article (Note : This list would not include Terrorists/Super-Villains)

5. Bhiku Mhatre (Satya)

As a character, Bhiku Mhatre broke several conventions, one of them being that the Boss of a gang should be an Old man, and another being that no matter how uncouth or unkempt the goons of the gang are, the boss should remain in style.

You see, in more ways than one, Bhiku Mhatre was a path breaker. He heralded the realistic 'Don', one who did not roam around in Tuxedo (like the Italian Mafia), but rather, lived in claustrophobia inducing surroundings (as is the norm in Mumbai), and went around his business without much of a show-sha or an entourage.

A self-proclaimed 'Mumbai Ka King', he did not believe in sending a Shetty types to do his dirty work, and in what might be Manoj Bajpai's best performance till date, he managed to over-shadow the eponymous lead character of the film

Chakrabarty...Who? Close The Door When You Leave Please

Bhiku Mhatre did for the Indian Filmy Gangster what Charlie and Johnny Boy had done for the Hollywood versions in the 70s. He was the frontrunner (and still the best character) in a slew of 'Gritty' gang war movies that have since hit Filmistan.

4. Jahangir Khan (Angaar)


Kader Khan (apart from being Yamraj) has played characters on the other side of the law a lot of times before he sold his soul to David Dhawan and became largely avuncular. He usually played type-casted menacing gangsters who relied on guns and henchmen to take care of the Hero, but one of his different roles is in the 1992 film Angaar, where he played a Gangster with Principles.

Here's Kader Khan getting the better off Nana Patekar, something a lot of people have not been able to do off screen or on screen

The film was based loosely (read : largely) on the lives of Haji Mastan and Kareem Lala, with Jahangir Khan being a representation of the former. He was intense, strict and a man of Usool and Adarsh, who had his own definition of what is right, and did not let others cross a line. But he wasn't the stock 'Good Gangster' character, watch how he slowly loses his cool in this conversation

And yet, he is a man of reason. He takes up the cause of the down trodden, and is not vary of threatening his own

Kader Khan was involved in the character development of Jahangir Khan in two ways, both as an actor and the dialogue writer. Sadly, no other film had him playing another role of this depth and intensity ever.

3. Don (Don)


Although he had much less screen time than it is usual for memorable Gangster bosses (I am talking about the awesome/original version of this movie), the fact that it was played by  a 'Hero' of the time, and the ruthlessness with which he carried himself left quite an impact.

Not to mention his fetish for Bow-ties

Amitabh Bachchan had played a villainous character before in the film Parwana, and he successfully portrayed the anti-hero archetype in Deewar, but for the initial part of this film he glorifies Villain-ry through and through.

And he plays the villain with ishtyle. He has sexy chicks, a well stocked bar, strange decor on the walls, sliding doors, the works. And this was a gangster who literally bossed around people twice his age (and size too), exuding real power. Besides, when he spoke the dialogue 'Mujhe Jungli Billiyan Pasand Hain' you could feel the menace coming across, Shah Rukh Khan was no match for this.

And of-course, he had a way with the ladies

Although later in the movie it is revealed that he is kind of a sub-boss (explaining why he had to do much of his dirty work himself), but then, he was one of the few people who were actually living up to the expectation of their name. (It is never revealed in the original film whether Don is his name, a title, a nick-name, or a shortened version of Donald).

If this movie had been about Italian Mafia, he would have been Don Don.

2. Arjun Singh (Jewel Thief)


Spoiler Alert : For the few people who are alive and have not seen this cult-classic, ASHOK KUMAR IS THE VILLAIN IN THIS FILM (OH EM GEE YOU DID NOT KNOW THAT?)

'What? You mean to say that there ARE people alive who have not seen Jewel Thief?'

But seriously though, Arjun Singh (Ashok Kumar) was one helluva Gangster Boss. Firstly, he is a model-boss for any organization, because he extracts the maximum that he can from all his (so as to say) employees. Every one of them is an important tool in his scheme, and he keeps them happy too, with a seemingly unlimited supply of alcohol and cigarettes, and has given them a huge game room to play cards and billiard in a scenic town.

Secondly, he devised a whole movie worth of scheme, which was so damn ingenious that it ran a risk of frequently tripping over itself (without ever doing so), you see every character in the film (who are all basically under his employment) works on the direction of Arjun Singh with a complex and sinister goal of making the hero go crazy slowly.

Even the 'Heroin' of the film is complicit in his plans

And finally, even though he is a big leader of an organization which can easily be named 'Thugs R Us', he performs all his misdeeds without spilling blood. He is not a killer, he is a brilliant schemer, and he shows that he does not need violence (although weird science may be required from time to time) to attain his ends.

In fact, even when he and his whole gang gets caught in the end, he hardly bats an eyelid, and suggests that they should pass the time by telling each other stories and songs, because he knows that he is brilliant, and getting caught by cops would only be a small hindrance in his operations.

1. Lion (Kalicharan)

Saara Sheher Mujhe 'Loin' Ke Naam Se Jaanta hai

Lion (minus the unfortunate pronunciation) has got to be The Most Memorable Gangster Boss in the history of Indian cinema. His trademark dialogue delivery, his huge 'Gangster-Headquarter', the vardi waale goonde' in his gang, Mona, Sona, and a lot more things became a blue-print for future filmy gangsters to emulate.

Ajit had played the suave villain character before, once even with ill-fitting shoes, but it was THIS role that has got him an enduring (and overly parodied) legacy. There are typical jokes popular as 'Ajit Jokes', in fact even his son didn't flinch while cashing in on this

I wish all sons could make money off their father's legacy this way

But before the jokes, before the comedy was the Master Criminal 'Din Dayal', who to a large extent got away with the murder of the hero (only to be foiled by a duplicate, this has been a regular bane for Hindi Film villains), and he commanded his gang with great authority.

And of course, off screen he made the life of a generation of men named Robert and women named Mona hell. Which other Gangster Boss has been able to break the fourth-wall thus!

Passing Mention


A Gangster Boss who did not get to show a lot of gangster-giri in the film, but needs mention here because of the way he caricatures an entire era of filmy villains is the Sentimental Don Anthony Gomez from Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa

Goga Kapoor, Rest In Peace,

PS : If you liked reading about these gangsters, do check the other end of the spectrum in our article on Filmy Policemen

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4 Govinda Movies That Make You Wonder (Where did it all go wrong)

Govinda has (had?) been around for a long long time, he debuted in five movies almost simultaneously in the mid eighties. He too had his golden period, in fact during much of the nineties his films were supposed to bring sure shot success at the box office. Makes you wonder, when exactly did he start screwing things up to end at the present stage that he is

Actual Age = 49

Govinda had a couple of hit films almost every year, and they were good films at that. A look at his filmography kind of reveals the point where his career started taking a never ending nose dive

Circled : The exact moment of Govinda's downfall

But is Govinda even worth discussing today? I guess he is, because this was an actor who elevated the slapstick form of comedy to worthy commercial art. He wore yellow and purple tuxedos and made them work, he had excellent comic timing, and he fooled the villains before beating them black and blue. I am not saying that all his films were top of the notch, but here is a look at 4 of his films that were so good that it makes you wonder why exactly did he lose steam.

4. Shola aur Shabnam

When he started his career, it was as a Dancer, he can still dance pretty well (despite the layers of flab surrounding him), and most of his early movies were thrillers or action movies or movies which had their whole story in the name itself (Eg : Paap ko Jalaa kar Raakh kar Doonga). Shola or Shabnam (also starring the late Divya Bharti) too was mostly an action movie, but its comic scenes make it memorable. 

This particular poster has very little do with the actual film

Most of the gags in the film arose from the sparring between Govinda and Anupam Kher. The first half of the film was a campus caper, with the mandatory 'Girls Hostel' scene and pranks being pulled on the principal. It was formulaic, but it was a good formula at that time, and it was executed well.

The Principal had the rare distinction of getting his ass kicked by Shakti Kapoor

                                     

Of course no early 90s movie was complete without a song in which the leading lady is dressed in Sports attire.

The second half of the movie had a darker tone with Mohnish Bahl and Gulshan Grover inflicting all sorts of gundagiri on the good guys

Yes, yes I will do it...it's still a few years before I am accepted as a positive character

They manage to malign honest to earth and all around good guy Govinda's name, who in a rare show of filmy wisdom kidnaps the lead actress and runs away

Pictured : Fringe benefits of getting your name maligned 

Even the action scenes in the movie were decent, the climax had an epic scene in which Anupam Kher (no less) flies through the air with a gun in his hand and lays bad guys to waste. Gulshan Grover and Mohnish Bahl did what they were good at, getting beaten up (more on that later) and in true early 90s fashion, with a huge family photograph it was Alls Well That Ends with a Fight Scene


3. Hero No. 1

From a time when Posters were Minimalistic and Awesome

The success of 'No. 1' movies, a series of which Govinda did with David Dhawan, could also be attributed in no small part to the presence of that great actor Kader Khan, who shared great camaraderie with Govinda, often as the lead actresses' father who would be trying to stop Govinda from wooing his daughter. In movies such as these, the actress became immaterial, all the scene were  a game of upmanship between Govinda and Kader Khan, and they never disappointed.

Kader Khan also moonlighted as Yamaraj

However, Hero No. 1 was an exception to this rule. It was one of the few films in which Kader Khan player Govinda's father, and thus had a different kind of comic tussle with him. It was also one of the first films in which (the figure of) Karisma Kapoor had really started becoming something.

Relevance of this pic with article = 0, Hotness = Max

Much of this film was a direct rip-off from another great flick Bawarchi, this perhaps worked as well for the movie, since the source material was so good, it was hard for them to go wrong. I mean, it is hard to come across a bad remake of a good movie

Shit...I take my words back

The movie also had the usual roster of mid 90s actors like Satish Shah, Himani Shivpuri, Anil Dhawan, Rakesh Bedi and Tiku Talsania who probably roamed around en masse for films which only leaded a lead pair and 5 songs if they already had this motley crew.

Also, it gave the world the anthem for eloping lovers

This was  a 'villain-less' flick, hence there were no gun-fights, no cars flying in the air, no evil looking guys, all it had was misunderstandings (etc), if this was not a Govinda film, I would have hated it. Even Paresh Rawal, who at that time was known more for essaying bald bad guys played the role of an aging patriarch. Speaking of Paresh Rawal, brings us to...

2. Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan

Okay, I admit this is not amongst Govinda's greatest works by any stretch of imagination, one of his earlier films (like Ilzam) deserved a place in this list. However, there is a huge reason why this film belongs here, a very tall reason in fact

The Last Movie in which Amitabh Bachchan has no Facial Hair

The only other movie that comes to mind starring El Grande B and Govinda is 'Hum' (which, because of the fact that it starred Thalaivar too warrants a different post on itself), and it is quite possible that Mr Bachchan did this film because he was still searching for a successful comeback post his brief 'retirement' period. This might also be the last movie (not counting Paa) which denies the actor his true age. Govinda, while lacking certainly in the height department, more than made up in matching up to the senior (and better) actor with his impeccable comic timing.

The movie had a simple story about a couple of Policemen who are after a gang of crooks lead by Paresh Rawal who specialize in stealing jewels (or something), there are a couple of actresses for 'song purposes', and then there is Anupam Kher as the much harried boss. The film starts living up to its promise with the arrival of the look-alikes, a pair of crooks who look exactly like the two policemen, and have the best scenes and the best lines in the movie. They also get to dance with Madhuri Dixit, who has a guest appearance

mmmm....guest appearance

The story deals with the usual confusion of identities, of how the crooks use their looks to their advantage and implicate the policemen, and then obviously have a change of heart and help the Policemen in nabbing the villains, but not before this song

When the villain forces them to keep on dancing after the end of the song, Govinda delivers the epic line 'Khud ko Badshah Akbar aur Humko Anarkali Samjha hai kya? Kitna nachaa raha hai!'

It had a rather fitting David Dhawanisque climax in which the two honest Policemen are demoted to Traffic duty and the two crooks are made Inspectors of Police. I wish the real world was like that.

1. Dulhe Raja

This, in my opinion is Govinda's best movie till date. And it is one of those few movies that warrants watching an infinite number of times, until each scene (except for those with the songs) is ingrained deep inside your memory.

Raveena Tandon had very little to do with this film

I have already talked about how the lead actress was bypassed in case there were both Govinda and Kader Khan in a movie, and this movie is the best example of that. Kader Khan played a hotelier whose business suffers because of the opening of a small dhaba next to his place. This dhaba is run by Raja (Govinda) and is frequented by all the guests and the staff (including Johnny Lever) of the hotel. And to add to the rich man (named Singhania generically) troubles, this upstart dhaba owner starts romancing his daughter, thus giving Raveena Tandon something to do.

'Sir, main to sirf Aapke Saath Hoon;

The big shot hotel owner does everything to oust the dhaba owner including Saam Daam Dand Bhed, he gives huge discounts in his restaurant, which Govinda counters by having a 'Pay If You Wish Scheme' at his Dhaba, in the end it all comes down to a flat out one-on-one singing competition, 

Govinda later pleads that he be allowed to marry Raveena since his house is next to the hotel so 'ladki kabhi phudak ke maayke mein, phudak ke sasural mein, phudak ke yahan phudak ke wahan'

My favourite scene though is one in which Kader Khan tries to play the Sentimental card by showing him all the jewels, shoes and clothes etc that his daughter owns and asks Govinda if he would be able to afford all the shauqs that his daughter has. In any other movie this scene would have turned into a moment of 'Soul Searching' for the Hero, who would at that very instant start saving up money for his marriage. But not Govinda, he instead takes a sack of jewels and money and runs off to an income tax office, with Kader Khan giving chase.

There is an inane subplot involving a few villains (including Mohnish Behl, who almost made a living out of getting his ass handed to him by Govinda), and the kidnapping of Raveena (who by this point in the film no one should care about), Govinda steps in, pulls a fast one on the villains and then beats them up.

Right, first I am gonna make you guys fight each other, then I am gonna kick your collective asses

Govinda did three films with Sanjay Dutt too, of which only Haseena Maan Jaayegi was of some merit. There was a time when his name guaranteed decent box office, of late he has been reduced to playing second fiddle. Perhaps the audience has changed, perhaps Govinda did not know when to change, if he had done lesser films then, he might have adapted to the trend like the Khans around him. 

He might be a wreck today, but he created magic once (which is still worth a million laughs) and for that Govinda, I do wonder, where did it all go wrong.

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