Rakesh Roshan: The gentleman actor and filmmaker

Before Rakesh Roshan became one of Bollywood’s most successful filmmakers, he was a very successful leading man. During his brief stint as a hero, Rakesh worked with every top heroine : Hema Malini in Paraya Dhan, Rekha in Khubsoorat and Akraman (the latter directed by Rakesh’s father-in-law J Om Prakash), Raakhee Gulzar in Aankh Micholi, Leena Chandavarkar in Ek Kunwari Ek Kunwara, Reena Roy in Zakhmee.

Most of these films were hits. But Rakesh’s heart was not in acting. In Khel Khel Mein, he had  a role equal to Rishi Kapoor ’s and the best song of the hit soundtrack Sapna mera toot gaya. But Rakesh moved on to what he thought was his true vocation.

It is easy to ignore Rakesh Roshan the actor and move on quickly to his blockbuster career as a film director. When you have a superstar-son at home, you don’t have to look anxiously over your shoulder for star dates and unaffordable remunerations. Rakesh Roshan insists he pays his son Hrithik his market price whenever they work together, which is literally every time Rakesh Roshan makes a film. He has sworn to cast only his son in the lead each time.

But if you ask me, Rakesh’s finest films were his initial productions, Jaag Utha Insaan, Kaam Chor and Bhagwan Dada, which he did not direct. And Khudgarz, which was his directorial debut. Khudgarz (1987) was about the unlikely friendship between a Punjabi urban businessman and a rural Bihari babu ( Shatrughan Sinha ). It was actually Rakesh Roshan’s take on a life-long friendship gone sour in Jeffrey Archer’s novel Kane & Abel. Rakesh earlier wanted to cast Jeetendra and Rajinikanth in a Punjabi-Tamilian dosti. He changed the cultural backdrop of one of the friends’ characters to cash on Shatrughan Sinha’s real-life friendship with  Jeetendra.

Jaag Utha Insaan (1984), which Rakesh produced, is another neglected gem. Though, it was Himmatwala that launched her into stardom in Bollywood, it was this unsuccessful nugget of a film produced by Rakesh Roshan and directed by the inimitable K. Vishwanath, where Sridevi shone as a temple dancer wooed by a Brahmin boy (Rakesh Roshan) and a socio-economically challenged underdog ( Mithun Chakraborty ). Sridevi danced and emoted as though there was no tomorrow. And as long as she did, we didn’t care if there wasn’t a tomorrow. This, according to me, is the most neglected film of Sridevi’s vast and far-ranging  oeuvre. She played a Brahmin girl in love with a Dalit boy(Mithun Chakraborty). Her dancing  with the South Indian temples as the backdrop is to die for. Director K Vishwanath, who normally preferred to work with Sridevi’s rival Jaya Prada, made an exception that made us Sridevi fans drool in delight. Very few films have captured this classical side of Sri’s personality. This one is  soup for the eyes and the soul.

Little Hrithik Roshan almost stole the show from Sridevi in Bhagwan Dada (1986). In this  Rakesh Roshan-produced film, Sridevi was cast as a con-woman who pretends to be a hooker, takes moneyed men into hotel rooms, gets them drunk and runs off with their  money. The role was great fun to play and we can easily see Sridevi having the time of her life in the company of Rajinikanth and the 9-year old Hrithik Roshan.

Kaam Chor (1982), which Rakesh Roshan produced, was a quaint, goodhearted film about a beautiful, kind woman, who reforms her indolent work-shirking husband. Rakesh Roshan took the backseat as Jaya Prada fronted this mellow drama, directed by one of Rakesh’s favourite director, K Vishwanath, who saw the sparks in Jaya Prada long before any other director. Be it Kaam Chor or Hrishikesh Mukherjee ’s Khubsoorat, Rakesh Roshan was always game for  acting in heroine-centric  films.

I am not too kicked by the Krrish series, which, for all its sensory splendour, falls way short of its counterparts in the west, nor his later directorial ventures like Koyla and Karan Arjun. Both  compare poorly with Rakesh Roshan’s early works.

After a health setback two years ago, he is now in a calm, zen-like space, and not a part of the rat race.

Rakesh says, “I couldn’t have asked for more. As a leading man, I had many hits in the 1970s. Then as a director, I’ve seen many successes. But above all, I’ve a fabulous supportive family. What more do I need?”

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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