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.

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; September 1, 2019)

In the 80s and 90s, the audience saw him lip-synching the classic, So Gaya Yeh Jahan from Tezaab (1988) and matching Govinda move-fora-move in Aankhen (1993). Chunky Panday, who returned to the lives of cinegoers with characters like Aakhri Pasta in Housefull (2010), is now juggling his schedule between multiple films, two of which present him as a villain. While it may not be easy to laugh at oneself, it’s an art that he has mastered and is gradually passing on the tricks to his 20-year-old daughter Ananya, who made her debut this year with Student Of The Year 2. In a chat with BT, Chunky discusses his current phase in the industry, his daughter’s acting career and what his mistakes have taught him. Excerpts…

Your new innings as an actor is in full force with films like Prassthanam, Jawani Jaaneman and Housefull 4, where you play diametrically different characters. Is this the most satisfying time of your professional life?
Yes, it is. I am also doing a Marathi film called Bhangarwala in which I play an Arab; after seeing that, I don’t think they will let me enter Dubai (laughs!). Before this, the only regional cinema I had tried was Bangladeshi (laughs even more), which means I’ve also done Bengali films.

I’ve been a great fan of Pran, Mehmood, Amjad Khan, Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor and Amrish Puri. I can’t ever dream of coming close to these guys and the characters they’ve immortalised. Deva Katta, who made the original Prassthanam, felt that I could play the grey character in his story. I’ve just tried to remember the masters of such characters in Indian cinema while playing this one, with the hope that I, too, can achieve that glory.

Given that you are being offered performance-driven parts now, would you say that you’re finally coming into your own?
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that. We are actually living in the golden phase of this craft. Today, newer platforms have opened up avenues for actors. If you realise, I haven’t done much work in about 30 years as an actor. I may have 94 films to my credit, but only about 75 have been released. I am less exposed and also lucky to get the characters I have today. Also, people didn’t ever forget me entirely. I guess I stayed at the back of their minds. The second innings started with characters like Aakhri Pasta and that Nepali guy in Apna Sapna Money Money (2006). The intention was to impress the younger audience. The subsequent characters, like the ones in Begum Jaan (2017) and Prassthanam, are bonuses. I would like to believe what my wife Bhavana often says when we fight. She says, ‘There is a little devil hiding in you and you are evil personified.’ That’s a statement every wife makes when the couple fights, but I took it a tad bit seriously and decided to prove her right (Laughs!). My wife was petrified to see my look in Begum Jaan. Ananya was taken aback, but impressed. Doing negative characters had some impact at home. My younger daughter (Rysa) and wife didn’t talk to me for days after Begum Jaan released. I played a devilish guy who feeds dogs to people, while at home, I am a dog lover. When I grew a beard for that part, my daughters refused to come close to me, because I wore this weird look on my face, unlike the daddy they knew. And my wife? She refused to kiss my cheeks or hug me. So, coming into my own has not been easy.

How has this new phase changed you as an actor?
It’s made me a lot more confident, but I would say that the directors, too, had a huge role to play. To do Prassthanam and Housefull 4 in the same year is a big deal for me. I was stepping into the comedy franchise, which is almost like home to me, after doing two badass characters. The after-effect of playing those parts was that I was finding it hard to slip into Aakhri Pasta (his character in Housefull 4). The transition between roles was a challenge. Your mind tends to get confused, and you need the director’s support. I am not the greatest actor on earth, and I depend a lot on my director. Even for Prassthanam, I depended a lot on Deva Katta. If left to me, I will do the same navrasas in every film. I can trust the actor in me, but I need a chance to show something new every time. That new thing is the director’s take on the character. I always ask for that.

Jackie Shroff, Gulshan Grover, Sanjay Dutt — a bunch of your colleagues from the 1980s and 1990s — seem to have a better repertoire today than you did. As a leading man in the 1990s, why did you drop out of the scene, that, too, soon after a hit like Aankhen?
I had no option. I arrived on the scene in 1987. Govinda had come a year earlier, and in quick succession, we had Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn. There was one new face every year. My honeymoon got over in no time with so many heroes arriving on the scene. My solo-hero films did average business, but the multi-starrers did very well. In this industry, you should never underestimate or overestimate anyone. When I went to Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s wedding reception, I met filmmaker Shankar. He remembered me instantly, but it took me a while to recall that he was assisting a South filmmaker on Jai Shiv Shankar — a film I did for Rajesh Khanna’s company, which never released. Imagine, Shankar was an assistant on that film! So, you cannot discount anyone. I have seen things change overnight for people, from good to bad and terrible to great. I always feel that one should maintain a balance with people. Don’t write them off and don’t chase them crazily.

But didn’t you get almost written off when you decided to work in Bangladeshi films?
It was a phase of a meltdown. I was thinking of switching careers. I had the biggest hit in the country, Aankhen, to my name but I didn’t get much work after that. I moved to Bangladeshi films and kept doing films there because they worked. I was just running away from myself. I somehow wanted to continue being an actor, because if I didn’t, then I would have to find an alternate profession. It was Bhavna who got me back here. She told me that even in Bangladesh, people know me as Chunky from Bollywood. Filmmaker Harry Baweja gave me my first role during that phase in Qayamat: City Under Threat (2003). Things changed from there. There are times when you ask yourself why certain things happened and what went wrong. I think I made a lot of good choices, but I also made many mistakes; I was meant to make them. For instance, I left Tridev (1989) for another film. Everyone makes mistakes and learns from them. Today, if I get a great character, I do it, no matter what. I wish I was as wise a few years ago. It took me some soul searching and introspection to be like this. I was getting characters even back then, but my mind was not ready for them. Today, I am thick-skinned, and I have no ego. I change my colours like a chameleon, and I can laugh at myself. That makes life easier for an actor.

Isn’t it strange that when you decided to come back, the work didn’t really come from the friends who you often hang out with?
It didn’t come from friends because I have never depended on them to give me work and I don’t like bringing work between us.

While you are clearly enjoying your second innings, your daughter Ananya has started her career…
I am damn excited for her. I was also scared about that at one point. The most important thing for any actor is to be accepted by the audience. I’ve always told this to Ananya because there’s just that much advice I can dole out. She’ll have to figure her way through this on her own, making her own choices and her own mistakes. I’ve always told her that no one can ever predict the box-office success of a film, because a billion people decide that. I stopped worrying when I saw Student Of The Year 2 at a private screening. Bhavna and I were sure she would find acceptance. There’s no harm in being excited and optimistic, but one should never get carried away.

Ananya has entered the industry at a time when actors have to face pressure beyond box-office performance of their films. Social media pressure is a major aspect today...
Yes, the golden phase of show-business has its own perils. I’m proud of my daughter’s initiative to fight social media bullying instead of giving in to it. It’s a nasty thing that affects so many people. Someone had to bell the cat and Ananya has taken the lead. She’s 20 and doing something brave for her age. Today, I just hope that she enjoys everything she does. She did well academically, but she’s learning things now, and things that will help her survive in an industry like ours. She did her formal training in acting, but no university can teach you things that Bollywood can. And trust me, it teaches you too many lessons very quickly.

Link-ups with co-actors happened in the 1990s, and they happen even today. Within six months of her debut, Ananya has already faced such a situation...
Yes, she got linked very early on in her career, but as they say, you live and die by the sword. It happened then and it happens now. You can’t control it, whether you’re married or single. I only tell her to take it in her stride, what else can I advise her on this? Even as an actor, when she asks me my opinion on her scripts, I don’t say much, because I want her to make her decisions and stand by those, forever.

Film expected to kick off in May-June 2019 and will be shot in London and Georgia
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 8, 2018)

The sequel to Aankhen will roll by mid-2019. Directed by Anees Bazmee, it will revolve around three blind men. Amitabh Bachchan is the only one from the original heist thriller to be retained. “Mr Bachchan is on board and for the rest of the cast we are looking for younger actors and are currently in talks with some but can’t divulge any other names yet,” informs Tarun Agarwal who is producing the film with Sunil Lulla.

Gaurang Doshi who had produced the 2002 film had announced Aankhen 2 in August 2016 with Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Arshad Warsi. The leading ladies were Ileana D’cruz and Regina Cassandra who would be making her Bollywood debut with the film. Soon after, Rajtaru Studio owned by Tarun moved court questioning how Gaurang could make the Aankhen sequel when they had bought the rights to the franchise from him years ago. The case has been embroiled in legal issues since the past few years.

While Tarun is not willing to discuss the case, he informed that they will be shooting the film either from May-July or June-August. “We will be filming in London and Georgia. The casino, as required in the story, has already been booked in Georgia. For the rest of the locations, we are scouting in the UK,” he adds.

The original film which had featured Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Paresh Rawal and Sushmita Sen, had the Big B playing Vijay Singh Rajput, a bank manager who is sacked for assaulting an employee. He decides to avenge the humiliation by training three blind men to rob the bank. 

Lasyapriya Sundaram (BOMBAY TIMES; October 19, 2018)

Filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah is back in the director’s chair after a gap of eight years, with the Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra-starrer Namaste England. He says that the film addresses the patriarchy that exists in our society and speaks about how every girl has the fundamental right to make her own choices. In a candid chat with BT, he also discussed how the process of filmmaking has evolved in the past decade. Excerpts...

Given its title,is Namaste England a companion film to Namastey London (2007)?
On one hand, Namastey London was a film that made a comment about the difference between India and the West, and on the other, it was also the story of a girl whose dreams were suppressed by her parents. They get her married to a boy she doesn’t like and rebels against that. Namaste England, too, is about a girl and her dreams. She wants to live a middle-class life, but wants to be able to make her own decisions. She wants freedom, which has been denied to her because of the social structure. When she faces challenges, she decides to go to London, thinking that will give her the freedom she craves for. The film talks about how every girl has the fundamental right to make decisions about her own life.

Both men and women are endorsers as well as victims of patriarchy. How do you think you can convey this complex idea within the framework of a commercial Hindi film?
The audience is extremely sensitive and they understand nuances. They might not be able to articulate it, but they feel the emotion. As a filmmaker, when you are portraying the problems girls face in our country, I can’t give a permanent solution. What I can do is show the problem and suggest a path which could be taken. Every girl’s problem is different, so, there can’t be one common solution. While women don’t have the right to work in some families, in others, they have to work because the family needs the additional income. Even in some modern families, women dancing at parties are frowned upon. They are told, ‘Hamare khandaan ki ek reputation hai’. But there are different rules for men and if they dance, the reputation of the family is not at stake. I have seen this happening in front of me. The man can wear whatever he wants, but the woman has to drape a sari and wear a particular kind of jewellery. This is a result of the patriarchal mind-set that exists in our society and it is about suppression of women. Even in an apparently modern and evolved society, girls don’t have the freedom they deserve.

The last film you directed was Action Replayy, which was eight years back. What made you take a sabbatical from direction for such a long time?
I have been working constantly for the past 25 years, without taking a break. When Action Replayy didn’t do well, I wanted to reinvent myself as a writer, director and producer. The digital age was upon us and filmmaking was also evolving with people shooting on their mobile phones. I realised that cinema was going through a paradigm shift and I had to adapt to the changes. The films that I was backing as a producer were taking up my time. It was an exciting journey for me to observe the manner in which storytelling and characterisation was evolving in cinema. I hope, all that I have observed and imbibed has been reflected in Namaste England. I hope that the eightyear break from direction has helped me mature as a director.

Your films, Aankhen(2002) and Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005) featured Amitabh Bachchan. But you haven’t teamed up with him since…
I have told him many times that I can’t see him doing roles, which aren’t incredible. I have been looking for material which will do justice to him, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do so. When I worked with him, I was a fanboy and even today, I am just a fan. Earlier, if I thought of an idea, I would send him a message even in the middle of the night. However, I don’t do that anymore, because I feel it’s wrong to disturb him. I can’t thank Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal enough for agreeing to do my first film as a director. I was a television director and in those days, the film industry didn’t have that kind of faith in people like us who were making a smooth transition to film direction. All these actors are responsible for my transition into cinema as a director and I will be indebted to them emotionally.

You have also donned the producer’s hat since 2008. How do you think filmmaking, from the point of view of a producer, has evolved over the last decade?
Change can sometimes be seen as disruption. When studios invested in films, people felt that as corporates what will they know about filmmaking? But today, can we imagine the industry without the studios? They put a lot of systems in place. There is no black money in the film industry, thanks to the studios. In fact, they have put a stop to cash dealings and all transactions are through cheques. Their risk appetite is amazing. There are also independent producers operating simultaneously along with the big studios. Producers like working as partners and their collaborations have helped the industry immensely.

Subhash K Jha (DNA; May 13, 2015)


The three protagonists in the original 2002 film were blind, but Anil won’t be. “Anil’s character is a new one. John and the two other heroes are playing blind characters.” Anil and Anees built a rapport during the shooting of Welcome and Welcome Back. “He has the energy level of a 24-year old. I had to have him in Aankhen 2,” says Anees.

The film’s producer Gaurang Doshi is also trying to rope in two new heroines for Aankhen 2 as Sushmita Sen and Bipasha Basu, who featured in the original, won’t reprise their roles.

Akshay’s sequel history
After Singh Is Kinng, AK will be part of Singh Is Bling.

He was part of Housefull, Housefull 2 and will be seen in Housefull 3 with Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh

He wasn’t part of Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, but featured as the lead star of the sequel.

Over the years, AK has featured in several Khiladi films, but none a sequel of the last.

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 14, 2014)

If Rohit Shetty had his way, his next film after Singham Returns would have been a remake of David Dhawan's 1993 superhit Aankhen. The director was keen to recreate the laugh riot starring Govinda and Chunkey Pandey. But his hopes were dashed when Pahlaj Nihalani, the producer of the original film, refused to sell the rights.

A source told Mirror, "Pahlaj told Rohit that he wouldn't mind him directing the sequel to Aankhen which he is planning but the director was not interested."

Confirming this, Nihalani said: "I am going to produce the sequel which I have titled Aankhen Char. However, Rohit was adamant that he wanted to remake the earlier film. I vetoed the idea."

He added, "I will never sell the rights of Aankhen, not even for Rs 5 crore. I know that I'm sitting on a winning ticket. Frankly, I was not surprised when Rohit's office contacted me. Aankhen is an evergreen film. If a film like this releases today, it would still be one of the highest grossers."

Meanwhile, the producer is looking to cast two A-listers in Aankhen Char. "Both the actors will have double roles. I am yet to finalise the cast and director though," he adds.

Rohit Shetty remained unavailable for comment.

Subhash K Jha (DNA; June 16, 2014)

Twelve years after Vipul Shah's directorial debut Aankhen, about a bunch of blind men undertaking a daredevilish bank heist, the film's producer Gaurang Doshi is all set to roll the sequel. The producer and the director had a fall-out during the making of the film. They parted acrimoniously and the sequel remained uncertain for all these years. Until now.

Interestingly, Aankhen 2 will be directed by Anees Bazmee who had a fall-out with Vipul Shah during the making of Singh Is Kinng. Confirming this Anees says, "Yes, Gaurang and I have met over Aankhen 2. I am now in Ahmedabad for a function. As soon as I return to Mumbai we'll finalise the details."

Says Gaurang, "Twelve years seems like a long time to sit on a sequel. But what to do? So much has happened since then. Aankhen 2 will have a completely new cast."

The original film was top-lined by Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Sushmita Sen, Arjun Kapoor, Paresh Rawal and Bipasha Basu.

"Aankhen 2 will have a completely new cast. But I can assure you, the actors would be as exciting this time as they were in Aankhen. God willing we'll make a stupendous success. Anees is the king of successful sequels," adds Gaurang.

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 10, 2014)

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 28, 2014)

Last evening, 36-year old Raageshwari Loomba tied the knot with a London-based barrister Sudhanshu Swaroop.

The marriage took place at a five-star hotel in Parel. The bride wore a sari designed by Neeta Lulla.

A friend of the actress-singer said, "Raageshwari is very happy and looking forward to living in London though initially she was apprehensive of shifting base."

When she was 13, Raageshwari was spotted by filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and auditioned for a lead role opposite Bobby Deol. But she did not land the part and made her debut in David Dhawan's Aankhen (1993). Later, she forayed into television, as a VJ for a popular countdown show.

When contacted, Pahlaj Nihalani, who produced Aankhen said, "I am on my way to the wedding. She is a wonderful person and deserves every bit of happiness."