Over the years, Bollywood has witnessed several examples of filmmakers working with select actors to bring out their best.
On Rohit Shetty’s birthday, here’s a look at successful actor-director duos
Ajay Devgn-Rohit Shetty: The director owes his success to Devgn in a big way. The actor has played central roles in Shetty’s action-packed blockbusters ‘Singham’ and ‘Bol Bachchan’, apart from being part of all four ‘Golmaal’ films. Even the relatively silly ‘All The Best’ was a hit.
Salman Khan-Sajid Nadiadwala: Sajid Nadiadwala and Salman Khan have been the best of friends for over 20 years. So it isn’t surprising that when Sajid donned the director’s hat for the first time in ‘Kick’, he chose Salman to play the lead. The film went on to be a blockbuster and broke all box-office records in 2014. Their professional association dates back to 1996 when they first worked together in ‘Jeet’. From there on, Sajid has produced several films starring Salman like ‘Judwaa’, ‘Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega’, ‘Mujhse Shaadi Karogi’ and ‘Jaan-E-Mann’ and most recently ‘Kick’.
Sanjay Dutt-Rajkumar Hirani: The duo has collaborated in only two films, but the impact has been so significant that they ought to be included in the list. ‘Munna Bhai M.B.B.S’ was a brilliant comedy with a poignant message while ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ was an incredibly heart-rending tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
Govinda-David Dhawan: The ‘no. 1’ actor-director Jodi of Bollywood, Chi Chi and Dhawan gave innumerable comic super hits in the 90’s – ‘Aankhen’, ‘Raja Babu’, ‘Coolie No. 1’, ‘Hero No. 1’, ‘Deewana Mastana’, the list goes on. Critics may have panned some of the films, but the audiences lapped up the same without much contemplation.
Akshay Kumar-Priyadarshan: Akki and Priyadarshan are a potent force in the Hindi film industry. Starting with the all-time favourite ‘Hera Pheri’, they have collaborated in ‘Garam Masala’, ‘Bhagam Bhag’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ and ‘De Dana Dan’, most of which did well at the box office.
Shah Rukh Khan-Yash Chopra: The legendary director eked out three of SRK’s best ever performances – the dangerously obsessed lover in ‘Darr’, the eternal romantic in ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ and the unconditional lover in ‘Veer-Zaara’
Sunny Deol-Rajkumar Santoshi: Some of Sunny’s best works came under Santoshi’s direction. Action flicks like ‘Ghayal’ and ‘Ghatak’ firmly established Sunny as the macho man of Bollywood while his power-packed performance as the lawyer in ‘Damini’ brought his numerous accolades.
Salman Khan-Sooraj Barjatya: The alliance that gave birth to one of Bollywood’s most lovable characters ‘ aptly titled Prem ‘ Barjatya and Salman gave us all-time classics like ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ and ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’, with an amalgamation of romance and family bonding. Even though ‘Hum Saath-Saath Hain’ paled in comparison, it was a big hit in itself.
Anil Kapoor-Subhash Ghai: They teamed together for a number of power-packed films in the mid and late ’80s. ‘Meri Jung’, the multi-starrer ‘Karma’ and ‘Ram Lakhan’, all were big hits. In the late ’90s, they did ‘Taal’ again. Although this time Kapoor was in a supporting role, that fact was that the film was a big hit.
Sanjeev Kumar-Gulzar: Their intense combination delivered classics like Koshish, Aandhi, ‘Mausam’ and ‘Namkeen’. To prove their versatility, their joined hands for ‘Angoor’ and the result was Bollywood’s best ever comedy.
Bollywood needs worldwide market like Hollywood: Rohit Shetty
