Passionate is how Pahlaj Nihalani’s collaborators and friends from the industry describe the veteran producer, who passed away on June 4, at 76. In his close to four-decade career, he not only backed several mainstream entertainers, but also gave Bollywood two stars in Govinda and Chunky Panday.

When mid-day reached out to Panday, the actor remembered how a chance meeting led Nihalani to cast him in Aag Hi Aag (1987). “We met under hilarious circumstances at a hotel bathroom in Juhu. Pahlaj ji helped me out of an awkward situation and asked me to meet him at his office the next day. Then I did two films back-to-back with him — Aag Hi Aag, and Paap Ki Duniya [1988]. I owe him a big thanks for launching my career,” he said.

To him, Nihalani was a father figure. But on set, he was always a hands-on producer first. “He made me do 32 retakes for my first shot; he wanted it perfect,” recalled the actor.

Their most memorable collaboration was Aankhen (1993). “He made it under tough circumstances. Nobody had dates available except Govinda, David Dhawan, Anees Bazmee, and I,” added Panday.

Bazmee, who wrote Aankhen and collaborated with Nihalani on several hits, also attests to this unrelenting passion.

According to the writer and director, talking films till 4 am at the producer’s house was a regular affair. “Once, he knocked at my door at 5 am. He wanted to tweak the scene we were to shoot that day. Since everyone was asleep at my house, we sat at a nearby tea stall and I wrote the changes on a tissue paper. He was a dildaar producer!”

Ilzaam’s leading lady Neelam too remembered the producer as “large-hearted and kind”. She said, “When I first met him for a narration, he told me, ‘Baby, we will do many hit films together.’ I had no idea I’d go on to have so many hits with him.”

While production brought him much success, Nihalani’s run as the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification was controversial. In his tenure between 2015 and 2017, he was infamous for demanding cuts in many movies, most notably in Udta Punjab (2016).

Chunky Panday adds he too had to turn down Khudgarz because of date problems; clarifies he hasn’t signed a film with daughter Ananya yet
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 10, 2020)

“Would you believe, I was banned even before my first film released,” asks Chunky Panday, going on to inform that while they were filming Aag Hi Aag, there was a film industry strike and those who continued shooting were blacklisted. “Since we were in Bangalore, stopping work would have led to huge financial losses. My seniors, Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha, had too many films on the floors, so the axe fell on this 22-year-old newcomer. But thanks to my producer Pahlaj Nihalani’s intervention, the ban was lifted in a week.” The film opened slowly, had picked up by Tuesday and by the end of the first week, was a hit.

Chunky has more surprises up his sleeve. “Tezaab was offered to Govinda first,” he reveals, adding that since the actor had got very busy after Ilzaam and writer-director N Chandra wanted a chunk of dates, the role of Babban came to him on the rebound. “I’d auditioned for a film called Roshni before Aag Hi Aag and though I didn’t land that role, Chandra promised to return with a big film. I’m lucky he saw me in Babban and so, shot some extra scenes with me, even giving me the evergreen ‘So Gaya Yeh Jahaan’ before the heavy climax,” shares Chunky, recalling how, while filming the song, Anil Kapoor and he had gone to a five-star hotel coffee shop at 3 am to grab a bite. “The shocked manager looked us up and down and asked if he should call the doctor. That’s when we realised we were still wearing our blood-splattered costumes.”

“So Gaya Yeh Jahaan” is one of the film’s highlights, along with “Ek Do Teen”. The latter, according to Chunky, was an afterthought. Laxmikant-Pyarelal were all set to record “Tu Mera Tota Main Teri Maina”, inspired by the Marathi song “Java Naveen Popat Ha”. It was only after Pahlaj and Chunky informed them that they had already shot it for Paap Ki Duniya. That’s when they zeroed in on “Ek Do Teen,” which was such a hit that when the advance booking counters opened at Gaiety-Galaxy theatres on Monday, the queue was a mile long. “Suddenly, someone noticed a shoot going on at the nearby Bandra station. It came as a shock to those waiting to buy tickets to learn that the man sitting atop a train was Anil Kapoor and he was shooting for Tezaab,” Chunky guffaws, pointing out that since the title didn’t need to be censored, they could take that shot five days before his film opened on November 11, 1988, to a rapturous response.

Paap Ki Duniya and Mitti Aur Sona, which opened in the same year, made Chunky a star, and soon he was so busy, that Khudgarz went to Govinda on the rebound, because this time, he didn’t have the dates. The two actors came together for the blockbuster, Aankhen. According to Chunky, during a Sunday meeting in ’92 with director David Dhawan, writer Anees Bazmee, Govinda and him, Pahlaj announced that he wanted to make a film in six months on the lines of the in-progress Andaz Apna Apna and release it before Rajkumar Santoshi’s laugh riot. “We started shooting in Hyderabad in October-November and the film opened on April 9, ’93 to full houses,” Chunky flashbacks.

Cut to 2009 and Kambakkht Ishq. Chunky was in Los Angeles while the film was being shot there and producer Sajid Nadiadwala approached him for a two-scene appearance. “I got a designer suit too, but then learnt that since I didn’t have a work visa, I couldn’t shoot in the US. When I went to return the suit, Sajid told me to keep it as a signing amount, confident we’d do another film together,” he reminisces.

Soon after, he ran into actor-director Sajid Khan, who told him about a role in his next, that everyone wanted him to play. But Sajid suggested he sign up to play the Italian hotelier, Aakhri Pasta, in Housefull (HF). “He’d been modelled on Sujit Kumar’s character, a flamboyant Italian agent, Marconi, in The Great Gambler. Everyone loved him and he’s been a part of the franchise since,” says a delighted Chunky.

Meanwhile, on the first Sunday after Housefull 3’s release, he auditioned for Srijit Mukherji’s post-Partition drama, Begum Jaan, with HF jokes being cracked all around him. Kabir was a vicious killer, a character Chunky had always wanted to play. Sujeeth, who saw the film in Hyderabad, was impressed that Aankhen’s happy-go-lucky Munnu could pull off such a dark and disturbing role and signed him as the villain of his ambitious Saaho. “I’m not a method actor, but while shooting for this film at Ramoji Rao Studios, I kept to myself and was unusually short-tempered even away from the camera,” he says, proudly pointing out that one got to see two sides to him last year.

This year too, he’s balancing between a dark and a comic character in two big films that have been thrown off gear by the pandemic. He refuses to divulge details but insists neither is Fighter, featuring Vijay Deverakonda and his daughter Ananya. “I’d love to play Ananya’s father, but right now, what you’re hearing are just rumours. I’d wanted my daughter to be a doctor like my parents, but she chose to follow me into the movies and I was so proud and thrilled when she bagged a Filmfare Award which has eluded me. I’ve told her every film is a kundali and it’s for her to chart her own destiny,” he avers, sounding like a real-life papa.

And will younger daughter Rysa also follow in their footsteps? “She’s a good singer. She’ll be a rockstar,” he promises.

Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; October 24, 2019)

With the Prabhas-starrer, Saaho, that starred Chunky Panday in the role of the antagonist, the actor realised the thrill of playing a negative character on screen. “So many people from the industry texted me regarding the performance. People, who I had lost touch with, called and the way they reacted to Devraaj meant a lot. I feel I was lucky to get that role,” shares Chunky.

But it was a call from his senior Shakti Kapoor — who made his entire career out of negative roles — that surprised Chunky. “I was thrilled to get a call from Shakti, who said he loved my performance in Saaho. I started my career and gave my first shot with him in Aag Hi Aag (1987). I gave 36 retakes. Though he was a senior when I started, we are good friends today. The body of work he has done is commendable. I have always looked up to him. Actors like Shakti, Paresh Rawal, Kader Khan and Boman Irani have done a variety of roles from negative to comedy to character roles to serious ones. I always wanted that kind of spectrum in my portfolio,” he says.

Talking about his vast career, Chunky says it was “like a honeymoon”. He initially did modelling, sold used cars and even used to go for auditions and dance practice. Then he got his first film Aag Hi Aag which became a huge hit and led to a string of offers. “Suddenly, I had so many films but I also got stereotyped into multi-starrer films. I didn’t mind doing them as they were fun. I learned a lot working with talented actors like Govinda, Paresh bhai, Shakti, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharam ji, Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt and others. Later, I don’t know what went wrong. From 1987 to 1993 was the best run of my life. Then, the offers dried up. I had to take a sabbatical and did Bangladeshi films. I returned in 2003 and had to ask people for work. Filmmakers Harry Baweja, Ram Gopal Varma and Subhash Ghai gave me films and restarted my career. Now, to return with diverse roles and so much love is precious. For 32 years as an actor, my body of work has been less. I am happy to be doing roles that make a mark,” he concludes.

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 6, 2019)

Chunky Panday and Neelam Kothari, the hit pair of the ’90s, are reuniting after 18 years post their last appearance together in Kasam in 2001, but for the small screen. The duo will battle it out in an episode of Kitchen Champions to win the prize. They shot their episode on Saturday.

Neelam, when contacted confirmed to Mirror, “Yes we appeared on the show, and it was a lot of fun. I haven’t done anything in a long time, I’ve been shying away from the camera though there have been a lot of offers. Chunky is a co-star and a friend and he had made his debut in a film with me (Aag Hi Aag in 1987), at that time I was considered a lucky charm.” Speaking about her cooking skills she adds, “I enjoy cooking occasionally but if it’s a daily chore then I would hate it.”

Chunky told us, “Neelam is a dear friend of Bhavana’s (Chunky’s wife). I don’t know what her cooking talents are, but I am sharpening my skills for the face-off. We have always been a winning combination but in the kitchen I’m good at making ice cubes and scrambled eggs though as a kid I was a great baker. Sometimes I still bake with my daughter Rysa.”

The duo also performed on their hit song “Main Tera Tota, Tu Meri Maina” from Paap Ki Duniya. Neelam also danced on “Main Se Meena Se” from Khudgarz with host Arjun Bijlani.