FTII chairman Gajendra Chauhan's epic filmography: A career in forgettable cameos

That the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is upset over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as their new Chairman is an understatement. There have been protests and the students have gone on an indefinite strike which has run into the fourth day now. Their primary grouse is that in an institute,  which has had the likes of Girish Karnad, Shyam Benegal, Rajkumar Hirani and Adoor Gopalkrishnan as alumni, the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan is a political scheme, designed to curb voices critical of the government. But before we outrage, what do we know about Gajendra Chauhan? Apart from the fact that he played Yudhishtir in the famous TV series Mahabharata in the late 80s and has served as a joint convener for culture in the BJP, no one knows much about Chauhan. That’s partially because he doesn’t have many achievements to boast of. In fact, in a recent meeting with FTII students, documentary filmmkaker Anand Patwardhan also speculated about Gajendra Chauhan’s credentials. According to this report by Bangalore Mirror, he said, “Chauhan has also acted in soft porn movies and I am not sure if this served as a qualification for his appointment as the chairman.” What are these “soft porn” films that Chauhan has been a part of? A quick glance at his IMDB profile will reveal that he has been a part of many movies, of um, different types. It’s safe to say he certainly wasn’t lying about his career when he said in an earlier Firstpost report, “I’m an actor first, for the past 34 years in the field of arts.” However, the quality of his acting career is another story. So here’s a look at some of the films that Chauhan has been a part of in these 34 years. 1. Jungle Love (1986) Please sit down before you read the synopsis of the film, directed by one V. Menon, because it is not meant for the faint-hearted. Jungle Love revolves around a boy who abandoned in the jungle because he is believed to have been born in an Amazonian state. There is a jungle treasure involved, and some really tacky animal-human interactions. Chauhan’s role? Some random forest worker, who sports a permanent creepy look. See for yourself.      2. Khuli Khidki (1989) When you search for this film on Youtube, the key words that pop up along with the name of the film are “hot movie”, just in case we were expecting it to be some stirring piece of social commentary. Thank you Youtube, we’ll keep note. All you’ll get to watch in Khuli Khidki are steamy scenes - evidence of the many adulterous affairs the story revolves around. Oh, there’s a murder mystery tucked somewhere in it too, but who cares? Chauhan plays one of the many characters in the film suspected of murder. Watch the movie here.    3. Janam Se Pehle (1994) Gajendra Chauhan’s list of unimportant roles continues in this 1994 film where he gets murdered in first 10 minutes by Raj Babbar. There’s not much on the internet about Janam Se Pehle but all we know is that it’s a thriller of some sort, and Chauhan was just one of the few men that Babbar had a contract to kill. Watch the film here.    4. Kaala Sach (1995) This writer had to meticulously go through a grainy print of the whole film on YouTube to find a sneak peak of Chauhan. While fast-forwarding through, one could tell the film is essentially a love story and it has its fair share of hurdles. Chauhan’s make a miss-able cameo as a doctor in the film. Watch it here.  5. Dil Ka Sauda (1999) Woot, woot! Gajendra Chauhan and Rakhi Sawant in one film! Dil Ka Sauda is a quintessential two-lovers stuck in a big bad world Bollywood film. Rakhi Sawant plays the bechari heroine - who would have thunk! There’s Raza Murad who’s the evil bad guy and an hero  we can’t recognise. Our man Gajendra Chauhan is shown to be Raza Murad’s friend in the film, who eyes the heroines in a creepy manner. Again, easily miss-able cameo. Watch the film here.    6. Rupa Rani Ramkali (2001) The only common thing about all these films apart from Gajendra Chauhan is that there’s no coherent plots in them - they are as sketchy as the new FTII chief’s acting career. Rupa Rani Ramkali seems to be a film about women breaking out of their traditional roles and becoming female dons. The setting is rural and Chauhan makes an appearance 15 minutes into the film, sporting a badass moustache in his cameo. Watch the film here.  7. Baghban (2003) More recently, in the Amitabh-Bachchan, Hema-Malini film Baghban, Gajendra Chauhan is seen playing a car salesmen in the second half of the film. In the scene, he urges Amitabh and Hema to take a test drive of a car.  He looks visibly older, and was much easier to spot in this one. Also, he gets slapped by Salman Khan.