Paresh Rawal

Paresh Rawal (born 30 May 1955) is an Indian actor, comedian, film producer and politician known for his works primarily in Hindi films. He has appeared in over 240 films and is the recipient of various accolades. In 1994, he won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in the films '' Woh Chokri'' and '' Sir''. For the latter, he received his first Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. This was followed by Ketan Mehta's ''Sardar'', which saw him playing the lead role of freedom fighter Vallabhbhai Patel, a role that got him national and international acclaim. He was honoured with Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2014.

His other notable works in Hindi cinema are '' Arjun'' (1985), '' Naam'' (1986), ''Shiva'' (1990), ''Mohra'' (1994), '' Tamanna'' (1997), '' China Gate'' (1998), ''Aitraaz'' (2004), '' Table No. 21'' (2013) and '' Zilla Ghaziabad'' (2013). He has received recognition for his villain roles in Telugu box office hits such as '' Kshana Kshanam'' (1991), ''Money'' (1993), '' Money Money'' (1995), '' Govinda Govinda'' (1994), '' Rikshavodu'' (1995), '' Bavagaru Bagunnara'' (1998).

Rawal has gained acclaim for his comedy and few intense supporting roles in Hindi films, as some of his notable roles are in '' Andaz Apna Apna'' (1994), '' Chachi 420'' (1997), '' Hera Pheri'' (2000), '' Nayak'' (2001), '' Aankhen'', '' Awara Paagal Deewana'' (both 2002), '' Hungama'' (2003), ''Garam Masala'' (2005), '' Phir Hera Pheri'', ''Chup Chup Ke'', '' Malamaal Weekly'' (all 2006), '' Welcome'' (2007), '' Mere Baap Pehle Aap'', '' Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!'' (both 2008), '' De Dana Dan'' (2009), '' Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?'', ''Ready'' (both 2010), '' OMG'' (2012), '' Welcome Back'' (2015), ''Tiger Zinda Hai'' (2017), '' Sanju'' (2018), '' Uri'' (2019), '' Dream Girl 2'', '' Shastry Viruddh Shastry'' (both 2023) and '' The Storyteller'' (2025) in which he portrayed Satyajit Ray's famous character Tarini Khuro. His most remembered role is of Baburao Ganpatrao Apte in the cult classic ''Hera Pheri'' comedy franchise, and he also appeared in the Tamil film ''Soorarai Pottru'' (2020) and later reprised the same role in the Hindi version of the film Sarfira (2024) starring Akshay Kumar and Radhika Madan.

Early and personal life

Rawal was born and raised in Bombay (present-day Mumbai) to a Gujarati family.

In 1987, Rawal married Swaroop Sampat, an actress and winner of the Miss India contest in 1979. Paresh and Swaroop have two sons, Aditya and Anirudh. He is an alumnus of Narsee Monjee College of Commerce & Economics, Vile Parle, Mumbai.

Career

Rawal made his debut with the 1985 film '' Arjun'' in a supporting role. He was also part of the cast of the Doordarshan TV Serial, Bante Bigadte. It was the 1986 blockbuster '' Naam'' that established him as an actor with great talent. He then appeared in over 100 films throughout the 1980s and 1990s, mostly as the main villain, such as in ''Roop ki Rani Choron Ka Raja'', ''Kabzaa'', ''King Uncle'', ''Ram Lakhan'', ''Daud'', ''Baazi'' and so many more. In the 1990s, he also starred in the cult comedy '' Andaz Apna Apna'' in which he played a double role. Rawal was perceived as a character actor by both audiences and critics until the 2000 Bollywood cult classic '' Hera Pheri'', after which he starred in many Hindi mainstream films as a lead actor or main protagonist. Rawal played the dim-witted, boisterous and kind-hearted Marathi landlord Baburao Ganpatrao Apte in the film '' Hera Pheri'', who takes in Raju (Akshay Kumar) and Shyam (Sunil Shetty) as paying guests in his house. Rawal's acting was a key reason for the major nationwide success the film received. For his performance, he won the Filmfare Best Comedian Award. He reprised his role as Baburao in the sequel to the film '' Phir Hera Pheri'' (2006), which was also successful.

Another notable lead role came in 2002 when Rawal portrayed one of three blind bank robbers in the hit film '' Aankhen'', co-starring Amitabh Bachchan, Aditya Pancholi, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal and Sushmita Sen. Rawal, for the remainder of the 2000s, was seen in mainly comedy oriented multi-starrers, mostly among the lead protagonists such as in '' Awara Paagal Deewana'' (2002), '' Hungama'' (2003), '' Hulchul'' (2004), ''Garam Masala'' (2005), '' Deewane Huye Paagal'' (2005), '' Malamaal Weekly'' (2006), '' Golmaal: Fun Unlimited'' (2006), ''Chup Chup Ke'' (2006), '' Bhagam Bhag'' (2007), '' Shankar Dada MBBS'' (Telugu), '' Bhool Bhulaiyaa'', '' Welcome'', '' Mere Baap Pehle Aap'' (2008) and '' De Dana Dan'' (2009). In 2010, Rawal acted in the movie '' Aakrosh'', based on honour killing.

In 2012, Rawal played the lead role in the movie '' OMG – Oh My God!''. Akshay Kumar was seen supporting him, and both won rave reviews for their roles.
He has also had a very successful acting career in Gujarati plays, the latest one being ''Dear Father''.
For television he has produced several Hindi soaps including Zee TV's '' Teen Bahuraaniyaan'', Sahara One's '' Main Aisi Kyunn Hoon'' and Colors' '' Laagi Tujhse Lagan''.

His latest notable release is Rajkumar Hirani's '' Sanju'' with Ranbir Kapoor. He plays actor Sunil Dutt's role in the movie.
He is also reprising his role as Baburao Ganpatrao Apte in ''Hera Pheri 3'' which was going to be released in 2024, but is 'on hold' as of May 2023.

On 10 September 2020 he was appointed the chief of the National School of Drama, by the President of India.

In 2021, Rawal appeared in sports drama '' Toofaan'', a film directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, alongside Farhan Akhtar, who is playing a national level boxer. The film was streamed worldwide on 16 July 2021 on Amazon Prime Video.

His other upcoming films are '' Welcome To The Jungle'', '' Hera Pheri 3'' and Thama.

Politics

He won as the Bharatiya Janata Party's Member of Parliament (MP) from Ahmedabad East constituency in the 2014 Indian general election. In 2014, he was awarded Padma Shri.

Controversy

On 21 May 2017, Rawal tweeted addressing an incident where the Indian Army tied a Kashmiri stone pelter as a human shield on an army jeep: "Instead of tying stone pelter on the army jeep, tie Arundhati Roy." It was presumed that he wanted Roy to be used as a human shield. Rawal's tweet provoked controversy. He was criticised by fellow actor Swara Bhaskar. Rawal was also criticised by Congress leader Shobha Ojha while filmmaker Ashoke Pandit supported his tweet.

Filmography

Awards and honours

References

External links

*

An interview with Paresh Rawal

I feel secure with Akshay: Paresh Rawal

Bollywood Collections of Paresh Rawal

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawal, Paresh
1955 births
Living people
Indian male film actors
Indian male comedians
Indian male voice actors
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Indian television producers
Filmfare Awards winners
Screen Awards winners
Zee Cine Awards winners
Best Supporting Actor National Film Award winners
Male actors from Gujarat
Indian male stage actors
Gujarati theatre
Age controversies
Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
India MPs 2014–2019
Indian actor-politicians
Lok Sabha members from Gujarat
Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Gujarat
Male actors in Urdu cinema
Male actors in Hindi television