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.

Juhi Chakraborty (HINDUSTAN TIMES; August 8, 2020)

As sparks fly over the nepotism debate, actor Chunky Panday says he is rather surprised to hear words like insiders and outsiders, which he never heard during his four-decade long career.

“I don’t know how these terms, ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ have come. The moment you sign a film, you become an insider. It’s your first assignment that makes you an insider. The equation of the industry has not changed. It’s is an equal playing field. You have to have a huge amount of luck and things will fall in place. But of course there will be ups and downs,” he shares.

And whenever the nepotism debate reignites, his daughter Ananya Panday has, more often than not, faced the ire of trolls on social media.

“If Ananya chose to get into films, it is her prerogative. I’ve not forced her. Kids today decide what they want to do. I hope and pray they succeed,” says the 57-year-old.

He admits that as a parent, it does bother him when his daughter is attacked. “When I came into the industry, it was said someone recommended me. It was a huge thing back then. But you have to live with it. Keep proving yourself and maintain the success. Not everyone can handle that… I couldn’t,” he says.

However, Chunky, who will soon make his digital debut, says actors now have it easier. “In our time we had to go the long way — shoot portfolios, show them to directors and producers. Now, with social media you can be famous and are cast in films. This is the golden era for anyone trying to get into this business,” he says.

Titas Chowdhury (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 2, 2020)

“I remember watching Bobby (1973) in the theatre. I’ve been Rishi Kapoor’s biggest fan,” says Chunky Panday as he walks down the memory lane. As the veteran actor breathed his last yesterday, Panday reminisces the time when he couldn’t share a single frame with him despite working in a film with him. He shares, “After I became an actor, I worked with him in Kasak (1992) where we didn’t have a single scene together. I was quite upset back then.”

Talking about the time when he closely worked with Kapoor during the shoot of Housefull 2 (2012), he nostalgically says, “Then I got a chance to work with him in Housefull 2. When we had the first screening of Housefull 2, I couldn’t make it because I was travelling. After the show, he called me and said to me, ‘You’re a fine actor!’ That coming from him was bigger than receiving any award.”

Panday says that Kapoor had a huge influence in his career. “I took on negative roles because I saw him as Rauf Lala in Agneepath (2012) and I was shaken up by that performance. The reason I did Saaho (2019) and Begum Jaan (2017) was because he inspired me to take that route. There’s going to be no one like him,” says Panday.

With a heavy heart, he says that his “biggest regret” would be to not have met the senior actor in the past couple of years. “The last time we worked together was when we went to Bengaluru for an event. Then he went to New York for his treatment. While I was there, I wanted to meet him. So, I called him up and I came to know that he was resting. I didn’t want to disturb. When he came back to India, I wanted to visit him but he went to Delhi to resume shooting and got very busy. But I’ll cherish every moment that I spent with him,” he signs off.

Sangeeta Yadav (HINDUSTAN TIMES; February 1, 2020)

Ananya Panday became an overnight star all thanks to her grand Bollywood launch by Karan Johar last year. But recently, she became the butt of jokes after her take on nepotism in the industry and statement on her father Chunky Panday’s “struggle”. She was trolled for saying her father had it tough as he never featured in Johar’s films or his celebrity chat show.

Clarifying, Chunky says, “She didn’t say anything derogatory. What she meant to say on nepotism was if my father had to recommend someone, he’d recommend himself first. And it would be wrong to say she is an actor as her father is one, for then she wouldn’t have come up with anything exceptional. Whatever she has achieved is on her own talent.”

Adding to the nepotism debate, the 57-year-old shares, “You just can’t pick up the phone and recommend someone. And one isn’t going to spend ₹20-30 crore on someone else’s child to make a film.”

As for Ananya being trolled at considering a chat show appearance as the barometer of success, Chunky says all such chat shows always feature the best of the best in the industry. “But one shouldn’t consider this as a barometer to one’s success. The only barometer for an actor is the movie he or she gets to work on,” he says.

But this isn’t the first time Ananya faced flak for taking her father’s name. “When she called me Tony Stark in one of her posts, she was trolled. She and I are both Tony Stark fans and she tells me ‘Dad, you look like Tony Stark’,” Chunky continues, “I too made a joke of it and sent her a message saying ‘Ananya stop name dropping me’ because every time she takes my name, she gets into trouble (laughs).”

But he feels this won’t affect her. “My daughter is still very young and she might have made a few mistakes, but she’ll have time to correct them. She was disturbed by the controversy about her college admission, so she started the So Positive initiative. I tell her to take these as compliments. Be happy you’re important to be talked about. As long as you know how you got a movie, no matter whoever tells you what, you know whatever people are shouting isn’t true,” he adds.

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; January 30, 2020)

In one of his previous chats with Bombay Times, Chunky Pandey had said that Saif Ali Khan and he play flamboyant characters, pretending to be young men, in Nitin Kakkar’s Jawaani Jaaneman. When we met him recently, and asked him to elaborate on it, Chunky told us that he plays a nightclub owner in London, who is close friends with his regular patron, played by Saif.

He added, “We’re playing these sadaa (forever) bachelors, who think it’s best to fly solo and not get tied down. Like young bachelors, we hit on girls. But one night, life turns on its head for Saif ’s character — from a single man, he turns into a father and a to-be grandfather! And then, something goes awry with my character, too, which brings the viewer to the understated message of the film — Ours is not the lifestyle one should ideally follow. We’ve shot at a real nightspot in London, but we would shoot during the day, with fake alcohol and junior artistes. It was like being sent to hell to sin away with no chance to sin.”

When Chunky played the bad guy Devraj in Saaho, which released a few months ago, he had modelled the character on Javier Bardem (Raoul Silva from Daniel Craig’s Skyfall). This time around, his brief was to follow the late editor of Playboy, Hugh Hefner. “Of course, this is a Hindi film, so there are no bunnies and toys!” the actor said, laughing.

The character took him back to his days as a young man. “Those days, I used to hit the nightclubs and be the guy on the floor. I’ve lived this character for years in my life. It’s just that this time, I got paid to relive my bachelorhood. I used to be a mastikhor those days. Also, the party scene was crazy and we didn’t have to bother much. Even as actors, we didn’t have anyone following us crazily everywhere. I feel bad for my children, who have not seen that era of zero social pressure and a life away from mobile phones. Life was less complicated.”

Coincidentally, it was also during those days that he first met Saif. He recalled, “He was a kid back then, but he has come a long way since. I love talking to him. He comes from another planet because no one talks like him, and no one has the kind of perspective he has on numerous subjects. I wait to meet him. His point of view is real, laced with his patent dark humour. He has no pretence. He’s a strong actor, secure and effortless; no matter who he is pitted against, his characters flow out of him. He won’t let you feel it, but he’s sharp and switches off instantly after the take. He doesn’t talk big, does what he wants, and lets you do your thing. That’s confidence, which is rare.”

The actor, who is known to have hosted some of the most flashy parties in the business for years during the 1990s, has today earned the reputation of being quite a kanjoos, which also forms the butt of jokes on comedy shows. Talking about it, he said, “My New Year bash and birthday parties used to be famous and I still acquired the reputation of being a kanjoos. I think I brought it on myself. It’s said that the best way to lose friends is by loaning them money, and I also lost some of my friends like that. So, this reputation of mine keeps loan-seekers away. However, I still host people lavishly at home or elsewhere.”

Chunky Panday on his actress-daughter being trolled online and playing role model to Saif Ali Khan in their upcoming film
Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 9, 2020)

After Saaho and Housefull 4 in 2019, Chunky Panday is gearing up for Jawaani Jaaneman, which features Saif Ali Khan and Tabu, and marks the acting debut of Pooja Bedi’s daughter, Alaia F. In the coming-ofage story, Chunky plays an old man who refuses to act his age.

“It was difficult for me because mentally, I am like a five-year-old. Here, I had to play a 50-something man pretending to be a 25-year-old,” he jokes, adding that his character serves as a role model to Saif’s. Questions about reuniting with his Bullett Raja (The Tigmanshu Dhulia-directed 2013 gangster film) co-star send him down the memory lane. “Saif and I are like a house on fire on the sets. It was better with this film as I play the owner of a nightclub that his character frequents. The shoot was crazy. The only problem was that the crowd and the alcohol weren’t real,” Chunky confesses.

Chunky has worked with Pooja in the 1993 film Lootere. Now, he shares screen space with her daughter. “I see Pooja’s lovely eyes in Alaia F. She is a fabulous actor and it felt like I had my own daughter on the set. She is like a package of fire,” he beams.

The actor believes that he is in the golden age of his career, and it all began with Housefull. “The birth of Pasta is almost like a James Bond series. He has a licence to kill, I have a licence to thrill. But Daniel Craig wants to leave his series after five films, while I would never do that with mine,” he chuckles. He is even more kicked about playing negative characters. “They are getting the beast out of me, not just the best,” he quips.

Ask him about Ananya’s success and the proud father gloats. “Last year, my films did well, but the performance of my daughter’s films is even more exciting,” he says. Ananya was recently trolled for comparing his absence from Karan Johar’s chat show as a sign of struggle. It makes Chunky laugh. “The two times she really got trolled was when she called me Tony Stark and the second was this episode. I want to tell her to stop taking my name,” he confesses.

Being a star kid, Ananya’s love life is always in the news. How does he, as a father, handle that kind of chatter? “She’s 21, it would be abnormal if she didn’t have a boyfriend,” he reasons, adding, “I have been through this in my time, so I know how much of it is true. You’re ready for these things as an insider,” he signs off.

Prashant Singh (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 25, 2019)

Even before making her Bollywood debut [with Student Of The Year 2], Ananya Panday was known to be quite a fashionista, largely thanks to her much-followed social media posts. Now, of course, her fashion quotient levels seem to have gone several notches higher. But not many know that the young actor finds her father’s [actor Chunky Panday] “quirky” sense of style “very cool”.

As Ananya puts it, “Dad is very chilled out. So, whether it’s his makeup or hair, he is very casual about such things. He has his own style and is very cool that way. Plus, I feel he belongs to a very different school of filmmaking-acting when things wouldn’t be how they are now.” Probably that’s why Ananya and even her mother [Bhavna Panday] gives him, what he jokingly calls “a complete tuition”, on how to handle media appearances, interviews and photo shoots etc.

“They tell me that I should behave myself, not talk too much and not make too many faces (laughs), so that they don’t get embarrassed by the crazy things that I do,” says Chunky. Adds Ananya: “You know, since dad is very casual in his approach, we are always like, ‘you have to dress properly, wear this or that.’ But deep down, I feel he should just be himself (smiles). In front of my mum, I always take her side and I am like, ‘what are you doing dad? You should listen to her.’ But when she isn’t around, then I am like, ‘can I have a shirt or two of yours (laughs)?’”

Chunky goes on to reveal that whenever he shops for his clothes from abroad, his wife and daughter “hardly ever like them”. “They will be like, ‘arrey, what have you bought?’ But when Ananya, on a fashion disaster day, can’t find anything nice in her cupboard, she quietly sneaks into my cupboard. She loves my quirky sense of style/fashion.”

To which, she readily agrees. “That’s true. I always wear my dad’s shirts (smiles). I went for Saand Ki Aankh screening a few days back for which I wore a leopard print full sleeves shirt. No one knows that it’s my dad’s shirt. When I have nothing worthwhile to wear, I pick up my dad’s clothes at the last minute. His colour palette [of clothes] is very colourful,” she says.

But Chunky has a bit of a practical issue. He explains: “What’s a bit problematic is when she wears my shirts before me. Because she goes out and gets photographed [in those shirts] so then, I have to wait for three-four months before I wear them. Otherwise, people will say, ‘main Ananya ke kapde pehen raha hoon (laughs).” He shares that his mum used to dress him up in girl’s clothes when he was very young as she wanted a daughter. “So, that way, my tastes are quite feminine when it comes to clothes,” he says.

Unlike her ‘naughty’ father, Chunky Panday, Ananya Panday has always been ‘very scared’ of firecrackers. And he feels lucky his daughters are ‘calmer’ than him
Prashant Singh (HINDUSTAN TIMES; October 27, 2019)

They are yet to share the screen-space in a film. After all, Ananya Panday is just one film old [her debut film being this year’s Student Of The Year 2]. But then, what’s a better occasion than Diwali to do something new. And that’s exactly what we decided to do by bringing together father-daughter duo, Ananya and Chunky Panday for an exclusive Diwali special shoot, at the Panday household in Bandra. “It’s lot of fun [to be with my dad]. In fact, whenever we are together, things are chilled out as both of us are extremely comfortable with each other. It doesn’t feel like ‘work’ when I’m working with dad,” says Ananya, even as Chunky quips that wife and daughter always “give him tuitions” before any interview. Excerpts from a chat:

What does Diwali mean to you?
Chunky: Family, lots of food, sweets, [symbolising the start of a] New Year, a bit of card parties and, of course, the pooja-paath.
Ananya: In our family — not just us but even my cousins, uncles and aunts — we celebrate every festival: be it Christmas, Easter, Eid, Diwali or our birthdays. But Diwali is really special as everyone really comes together on this festival. For us, it’s absolutely necessary that we all go to everyone’s houses, and light diyas. That has been a long-standing tradition for us. When we were younger, I would enjoy phuljharis, but I have always been very scared of firecrackers. That’s why, I always urge people not to burst crackers.
Chunky: I just don’t believe in burning money (laughs). You should rather give it for charity or something.
Ananya: Also, firecrackers are bad for the environment and we have dogs at home, too, who get very scared during Diwali. So, the only thing that we are against [during the festival] is firecrackers. Also, we live near a hospital so anyway, we all were never allowed to burst firecrackers.

Any special Diwali memories from the childhood?
Ananya: Enjoying phuljharis is the first thing that I can think of from my childhood Diwali days. I was, and still am very scared of fire. One thing that I’ll never forget is how my cousin, Ahaan, and his friends would scare me. Once, I remember, they egged me on to light a rocket, and also came with me, but right before I could light it up, they all left me alone and ran away.
Chunky: Ananya is a Diwali baby because her birthday is always around the festival (smiles). I feel Diwali has become very quiet and subdued now in the sense that we don’t see as many people burst crackers and go crazy about them. But as a kid, we grew up believing that burning crackers was the only way to celebrate the festival.
Ananya: For me, another special memory of Diwali is me, my younger sister, Rysa and my cousin, Alanna dressing up in similar clothes. We would wear the same kind of salwar-kameez. Also, we’d eat a lot of barfis, kaju katlis, visit everyone’s homes and I would also make rangolis.
Chunky: My memories are about doing some really crazy things including throwing crackers at people. At times, we would light up rockets and they would enter people’s houses and cars. Once, when I was about six, living with my grand mom at that time, the house caught fire due to my crackers. Fire brigade was called in, and I got a pasting of my life (laughs). I used to be a real naughty and rough kid when it came to such things. Luckily, I have daughters, who are much calmer (smiles).

Ananya, as compared to the last Diwali, you are celebrating this one as a Bollywood actor. How does it feel?
Ananya: This time, for a change, I had to plan my work schedules around Diwali. Luckily, I am not shooting on the Diwali day and I don’t think anyone would want to do that. But I am working a day before Diwali and then two days post that. But usually, we used to have a week long holiday when I was in school. So, for me, technically, this is a sort of working Diwali. I love my work, so hopefully, I will have a working birthday as well since I’ll be promoting Pati Patni Aur Woh around that time. I feel that will be a great way to ring in my 21st birthday.
Chunky: She has got very busy after the film’s [Student Of The Year 2] release. Just as a father, I feel that this is the age when she should be in a college, maybe study abroad and have fun as she’s just 20. But then, I feel being busy is a great thing. So, there are no complaints about that. On the contrary, I am really happy about it. She recently got an award and I went on the stage to give her that. So, Karan [Johar; filmmaker] asked me to say something ‘emotional’ but I couldn’t, as I knew I’d have started crying if I did. Instead, I cracked jokes on stage.

Both of you are successful as well as busy in your respective careers. But still, any special Diwali wish?
Ananya: It may sound cheesy but I want to stay this happy for the rest of my life because I am really happy and excited right now. Be it work, personal life, friends and family – everything is just perfect. Also, it’s amazing that my dad and I are working at the same time [in the film industry].
Chunky: Sometimes, I feel like asking Ananya, ‘why are you so happy (smiles)?’ I think thanks to her exciting demeanour, she also makes people around her happy. And that’s a great, positive thing to radiate. As for the wish, I pray that all my films do well, but my daughter’s films should do even better. Earlier, I’d pray, ‘may my films work.’ But now, the prayers have changed. I’m sure every parent wants their kid to excel.

Many rue the fact that festivals, especially Diwali, don’t have the same zeal and passion around them…
Ananya: In our house, Diwali will always be the same as we have diyas, lights, rangolis and also our parties to go to. Plus, there will always be an excitement about the outfit and ghar ka pooja. As for not burning crackers, that’s a very smart and sensible decision. The excitement and happiness should be intact but minus the pollution.
Chunky: For us, Diwali is a big traditional festival. So, we still buy new clothes and do the same things that we have always done.
Ananya: And this year, we also have a Diwali release [Housefull 4]. So, that adds a lot of excitement.
Chunky: Yes, it’s the first-ever Diwali release of my career.

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.

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; September 16, 2019)

Over the years, Chunky Panday has taken over the spot vacated by actors like Kadar Khan and Shakti Kapoor, who could play evil characters and funny guys with equal ease. For the newer generation, he’s recalled as Aakhri Pasta, owing to his funny character in the Housefull series. But for those, who grew up on films from the 90s, there is more to Chunky than just an actor who can pull off comic roles on screen. In Prassthanam — which is headlined by a bunch of senior actors — Chunky plays the antagonist, and he describes the character as, “A slime ball, the small-town kingmaker, who lacks principles and diplomacy.” But what he enjoyed the most about this film was bonding with colleagues from the past and revisiting some great memories together.

Interestingly, the set of Deva Katta’s Prassthanam had become a reunion party for a bunch of actors from the 1980s — Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff and Chunky had all emerged on the scene in the same decade. Manisha Koirala had joined the movies at the beginning of the 1990s, but she, too, would be a part of the gang’s rewind sessions. Talking about it, Chunky says, “We would often go on a flashback trip on the set of this film. It was like a reunion party.”

Shooting for Prassthanam turned out to be a reunion party for Chunky Panday. He says, “I had worked with Manisha in her second film. I’ve worked with Sanju on several films, and Jackie and I, although we had known each other, we started working together much later in our careers. We’ve done three films together. I had a great time working with Sanju. As young men, we’ve done some fun things together. I can’t even talk about how crazy those times were. We were both wild guys and had some fun outdoors in Chennai and Goa during those days. While shooting for Prassthanam, we would reminisce all that and laugh about it. Ali (Fazal) and Amyra (Dastur) would wonder why Sanju and I were laughing so much. And suddenly, when the camera rolled, we’d go for each other’s throats. We came from a school of filmmaking, where we learnt that films are only made on sets. I can’t read scripts even today. I just listen to the details of my character. The whole homework behind making a film is like overthinking something you eventually can’t control. The set is where a film will always be made. We should all enjoy the process together.”

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.

Chunky Panday on his screen alter ego’s encounter with Prabhas
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 8, 2019)

On Wednesday, Chunky Panday, who plays the antagonist, Devraj, in the Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer Saaho, unveiled his look from the film, hailing it as the “The Devil Himself”. Speaking to Mirror, the actor described his character as “complicated and twisted”.

Pointing out that the character has his reasons to be the way he is, Chunky says that he stayed in the look for almost a year. “Being at Ramoji Film City helped as it is in the middle of nowhere, so in the secluded location, in those clothes, I became Devraj. While on the set I would not even laugh and crack jokes. I had become quite short tempered as well,” says the usually easygoing Chunky who worked on his character’s look for almost a week.

Was there a reference point for his character? “Javier Bardem (as Raoul Silva, an ex-MI6 operative-turned-cyber terrorist to Daniel Craig’s James Bond in Skyfall), I loved him in the film though I am nowhere close to that. He’s a great villain but Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight will always be the ultimate baddie. Javier Bardem though is my man crush,” he guffaws.

He is also all praise for his larger-than-life co-star, Prabhas, whom he describes as a “lovely guy” and “a hands-on actor”. “Even when he is not needed for a shot, he is on the set. I can’t talk much about our scenes, but there is one where I have him on his knees. And while we were filming it, I was telling myself ‘Wow, I got Bahubali on his knees!’ That was a real high,” Chunky signs off on a high note.

Dad Chunky Pandey is a star in his own right. But Ananya, Karan Johar's latest gift to Bollywood, wants Alia Bhatt's trajectory while keeping his comic timing
Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; June 2, 2019)

I caught on early that Ananya was meant to be an actor — sorry, let me correct that — Bollywood actor. Be Indian, buy Indian, made in India... Ananya is the right example," laughs Chunky Pandey, as we chat with him and the latest star on the block, daughter Ananya, at their Bandra home.

"I listen to Pet Shop Boys, Bhavna [wife] loves U2, and our younger daughter Rysa only listens to rap. And Ananya? It's Bollywood all the way. She was obsessed with it, I thought there was something wrong with her. She was good at academics, so I thought perhaps she would become a doctor like both my parents. But, when she got to class VI or so, I knew she would be an actress."

At 20, Ananya is fresh off her debut, the Karan Johar-produced Student Of The Year 2, in which she starred along with Tara Sutaria and Tiger Shroff. And, even if you didn't fancy the movie, you cannot miss her talent, and her fresh-faced charm. She plays Shreya Randhawa, a rich brat who falls in love with the middle-class Rohan Sachdev. And if Ananya has made headlines with her debut, so had her father.

Chunky (born Suyash) debuted with Pahlaj Nihalani's Aag Hi Aag in 1987 but entered the national consciousness with his role as Babban, Munna's (Anil Kapoor) friend in the 1988 hit Tezaab. Mostly known for his comic timing, Chunky — you have to have loved him in Aankhein — became a superstar in Bangladesh in the nineties, having delivered more than 10 hits there.

When we meet them, and watch as they pose for pictures, they have the Bollywood vibe intact, all the while seeming accessible and relaxed. "Dad hasn't taught me acting..." Ananya says, and he laughs, "You are lucky I didn't." "But I know I have got my genes in place, and I get my comic timing from him. In fact, my next movie, Pati Patni Aur Woh is a comedy, and even though SOTY 2 wasn't an out-and-out comedy, I had some comic moments."

Hang around the two for a bit, and you know they are friends first. "In our house, there is a lot of privacy, we don't look at each other's phones. But we tell each other everything. I know all about the boys she finds cute..." says Chunky, "and I fear for them. Her attention span is very short." Ananya laughs, "I am so young, just 20. Of course, my crushes change every day." She may be young but after a bit of chatter, we realise she has her head screwed on right.

Dad and mom may be reading the scripts with her, but it is she who takes the final call. "My dad wants me to do my own thing, he wants me to live my own journey..." she says and he adds, "I don't want to confuse her. I actually didn't need to tell her much about anything. She belongs to a Bollywood home, her friends are star kids, she reads everything Bollywood, and she is an observant youngster. She knows the dos and don'ts. I just told her not to imitate anyone. I loved Amitabh, and you love Alia [Bhatt], but what worked for them, may not work for you. Choose your own path."

When we talk about her inspiration, Bhatt, who also made her debut with SOTY, Ananya's eyes light up. "When I saw Alia on screen the first time, I knew this was what I wanted to do, and this was the movie I wanted to be a part of. She has grown strength to strength. I don't want to copy her, but that journey where people watch you grow is so cool."



Ananya also seems to have imbibed her father's easygoing manner, and is a favourite with the paparazzi and social media. "I know most of the paps by name. I stand and chat with them. That easiness again comes from dad," she says, to which Chunkey adds, "I think we both want people to be happy and comfortable. When you have a happy atmosphere, people work better."

For now, Ananya seems content with the love she has received post the release, and is hoping to do more comedies, and even some "dark stuff because people won't expect me to do that". Talk about criticism and both have a similar approach — "don't read, don't react". "We both are very thick skinned," says Ananya, who has over three million followers on Instagram. "People have trolled me for being too thin... but I ignore it, because the love coming in has been so much. I want people who are watching me to look at me the way my friends see me. I am someone they can relate to. I am one of them."

In the end, they just seem to be living their best life, celebrating Ananya's success every day. As she says, "It's been a high all through. This is what I have been waiting for all my life."

Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; July 21, 2018)

Ekta Kapoor’s online platform ALT Balaji is following its comedy series Galti Se Mis-Tech and Fourplay with a sex-comedy that sees Chunkey Panday hopping aboard the digital bandwagon. Yet at odds with the title, Baby Come Naa, Pandey says “there’s nothing sexual” about the series.

Talking about the venture, an adaptation of Paritosh Painters’ English and Hindi play Double Trouble, Panday says, “It’s like a Jerry Lewis film, a romcom sex comedy, but there is nothing sexual about it. You can watch it with your family; you have to be intelligent to catch on to the double-meaning innuendos. I’ve worked with Paritosh Painter before, as I have with director Farhad Samji too in Housefull.”

The venture boasts of a power-packed star cast, including Shreyas Talpade — making his Hindi web series debut with the show — Kiku Sharda, Shefali Zariwala, Manasi Scott, Neetha Shetty and Rajendra Chawla. For Panday, a foray into the web space was inevitable, given that “entertainment has become an individual experience today”. Talking about how content consuming trends differ in his own household, he adds, “My daughter [Ananya] watches [shows] on her laptop, and my wife and I too watch [different things]. Ekta is the content queen; she has a clear target audience.”

Talpade and Panday are getting together for the third time, after having previously collaborated on Housefull 2 (2012) and Apna Sapna Money Money (2006). “Both the films were blockbusters. So, I am looking forward to this one too.”

Ananya Panday, Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria in Student Of The Year 2

Chunky Panday on sending off his daughter to ‘high school’
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 19, 2018)

Nineteen-year-old Ananya Panday has kicked off her Bollywood debut, Student Of The Year 2 with Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria, and dad Chunky couldn’t be prouder. “I speak to Ananya every now and then. Bhavna (wife) had gone there for a couple of days to get her settled in. She is in high school (in the film) now so parents are not allowed but I’m sure she’s enjoying herself. I’d love to see her in action. Maybe I will sneak in when the team is shooting in Mumbai,” Chunky told Mirror.

The 55-year-old actor admits that he misses his daughter. “I got emotional when she left but then I told myself that she’s going away to college and will be away for a couple of months. That’s how I’m looking at it,” he explains. He was recently quoted as saying that Ananya, a brilliant student, had enrolled in the University of California, Los Angeles and New York University, but since the movie was in the pipeline, they decided to delay her admission by a year.

With the youngster sharing screen time with another debutante, Tara, were there any apprehensions? “There were two girls in the story right from the outset and I’m sure they will complement each other. All three (Tiger, Ananya, Tara) look cute together,” Chunky says, adding that he and Bhavna are in “parental bliss” now. “Incidentally, my younger daughter Rysa is in Jordan to represent her school at an athletics competition,” he adds. Meanwhile, Chunky has finished his first Marathi film, Bangarwala, the Prabhas-starrer Saaho is almost complete and Housefull 4 starts in August.