Well-written characters in Indian cinema
Indian cinema is generally perceived as Masala. However, the truth is most commercially successful cinema falls into that category. There are countless beautifully made Indian movies (and I have seen them in only 3 languages — Hindi, English and Marathi). Of course, most of the really good ones are based on solid script and character development. I am just going to list the characters that I feel were really well written. I shall not attempt to write the reasons why I feel so, since most of it is due to the emotions these characters triggered in me. Also, a lot depends on the actors that have played these characters. But I am largely going to focus on the characters that I found the most impressive and unforgettable (to the extent I will refer them in random conversations). Obviously, this cannot be an exhaustive list and I would love to know your favorite characters too:
- Hanumant Singh (played by Nana Patekar) in Shagird
- Definite (played by Zeishan Quadri) in Gangs of Wasseypur
- Inspector Bachcha Yadav (played by Mukesh Tiwari) in Gangajal
- P.S. Bedi (played by Prem Chopra) in Rocket Singh-Salesman of the Year
- Raghavendra Sharma (played by OmPrakash) in Chupke Chupke
- Bapu (played by Navin Nischol) in Khosla ka Ghosla
- Balwinder “Bobby” Khosla (played by Vinay Pathak) in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
- Mannu Gupta (played by Vinay Pathak) in Chalo Dilli
- Sheshadri (played by Dharmendra) in Johnny Gaddar
- Inspector Kalyan (played by Govind Namdeo) in Johnny Gaddar
- Varsha (played by Ashwini Kalsekar) in Johnny Gaddar
- Sub-Inspector Brij Mohan (played by Vinay Pathak) in Manorama-6 feet under
- Ransa (played by Abhimanyu Singh) in Gulaal
- Ajit (played by Irfan Khan) in Kamala ki Maut
- Dr. Arijit (played by Vijayendra Ghatge) in Ek Doctor Ki Maut
- Professor Bhole Shankar Tiwari (played by Pankaj Kapur) in Sehar
- Babu “Babua/Perpendicular” Khan (played by Aditya Kumar) in Gangs of Wasseypur
- Shardul (played by Zakir Hussain) in Johnny Gaddar
- Lallan Singh (played by Abhishek Bachchan) in Yuva
- Shivani Shivaji Roy (played by Rani Mukerji) in Mardaani
- Shabana Khan (played by Taapsee Pannu) in Baby
- Archana Patil (played by Rinku Rajguru) in Sairat
- Anna Kulkarni (played by Dilip Prabhawalkar) in Deool
- Ghanshu (played by Ashrafful Haque) in The Stoneman Murders
- Vishwashrao Mohite (played by Sachin Khedekar) in Aajcha Divas Majha
- Shanta (Raghu’s mother)(played by Reema Lagoo) in Vaastav
- Vikram (played by Ranveer Shourey) in Titli
… okay, turns out there are many more characters that I find well written. I will keep updating the list or comments. Feel free to add.
