Let’s be honest. The Hindi film hero is the protagonist in almost all films. The leading lady has little to do in a commercial Hindi film except to sing songs and look pretty. But every now and then, along comes a film where the hero takes a backseat.
It’s a big deal. Especially when the actor is a superstar. That needs to be celebrated. Here’s looking at actors who have allowed their heroines to shine in the limelight while staying on the sidelines.
Shah Rukh Khan in Dear Zindagi
Enters the plot 40 minutes after the film begins and then, just listens to Alia Bhatt spill her innermost secrets. For King Khan, this is quite a departure from his me-myself-and-I roles. He takes over the role without taking over the plot.
Akshay Kumar in Naam Shabana
In Neeraj Pandey’s Baby, Akshay Kumar held centre stage while Tapsee Pannu made a cameo appearance as an intelligence officer out to nab a terrorist. Now, a whole film on Tapsee’s character in Baby is being made and Akshay has sportingly put in a cameo appearance. The age of chivalry is not dead yet.
Salman Khan in Phir Milenge
When Tamil star Revathi decided to direct a Hindi film about a girl who is ostracised at her workplace for having contracted AIDS, Salman generously stepped in to play a secondary role (as an HIV-infected person) only because the cause was bigger than his stardom.
Irrfan Khan in Piku
Deepika Padukone played the title role in this father-daughter film. And no Irrfan didn’t play Deepika’s father, Big B did. Khan played the guy who drove the father-daughter to Kolkata while they drove him around the bend.
Amitabh Bachchan in Pink
The relentless focus here was on the three female protagonists as they battled sexual molestation. Big B quietly fought the women’s battle in court, proving that a true superstar is one who knows when to step back for the larger good.
PEHLE BHI... WHEN MEN PLAYED SECOND FIDDLE IN FILMS
Sanjeev Kumar in Aandhi: When best buddy Gulzar offered this film to Haribhai, the actor grumbled goodnaturedly, “This is Suchitra Sen’s film through and through. What will I do in it? Tu mera dost hai ya dushman?” But Sanjeev took up the challenge and won the Best Actor award that year.
Rajesh Khanna in Amar Prem: At the peak of his superstardom, Rajesh Khanna said yes to Shakti Samanta’s Sharmila Tagore-starrer. In fact, Samanta was so sure that Kaka would say no, he didn’t even offer him the film. He took it first to Raj Kumar. Khanna volunteered to play the lead and share the limelight with a seven-year old boy Nandu (Master Bobby).
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