Bollywood alter egos of Cricketers - Part I
Given the general consensus among most Indians about Cricket and Bollywood being the unifying factors in an otherwise extremely diverse nation, one tried to find some similarities between the two sets of people that represent the two industries. To try to find the Bollywood alter ego of a cricketer is an interesting and rigorous exercise. It need not be a perfect fit. It will NOT be a perfect fit. So before one is inundated with the various differences between the two equated personalities, a statutory warning is warranted. The entire exercise needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.
One intends to start a series of such 'top of the mind' similarities between Cricketers and Bollywood actors.
Instead of starting with the most obvious choice of a SRT or a SRK or the Big B, one felt it would do justice to start with the most unsung but invaluable characters of their time. Especially given the current selection flip flops (some flips mostly flops).
Rahul Dravid and Naseeruddin Shah.
Both have perennially underplayed their roles and have mostly been under appreciated in their respective professions.
Naseer started as an 'art film' guy. Dravid started as a technically almost perfect player, but without the flair. Both had perfected the basics of their respective professions but never had it in them to play to the gallery.
Naseer was never seriously considered as a 'commercial' movie actor in his early acting days. Dravid was never really thought of as a great 'ODI' player at the start of his career either.
Naseer got into 'mainstream' Cinema by the middle of his career. Dravid started to come into his own in limited overs cricket a bit late in his career as well.
Naseer's career coincided with Amitabh, Dravid happened to exist during SRT's reign. Even when Amitabh/SRT were replaced by SRK/Viru/Yuvi/MSD in the popularity stakes, the two would always remain ‘also rans’.
Naseer became famous commercially with Tridev (Three Gods), Dravid went on to be better known as one of the Fab four.
Naseer and Dravid were always better appreciated by the critics than the common fan. The fact that they rarely hammed like many others didn't really appeal to a fanatic Indian fan used to heavy duty dialogue and heavy hitting batters.
Dravid and Naseer both were successful in multi-starrers. They never really managed to carry a movie or a match on their lone shoulders. There were a few exceptions along the way like Jalwa but such sparkling solo performances were never consistent enough for them to be considered as super star material.
The number of roles enacted by the both has been numerous. They made their individuality subservient to the role they were playing and therein lay their greatness.
Rumour has it that a Director went to Naseer offering him Hamlet’s role in an upcoming movie. Shahrukh Khan was unwell and the Ranbir Kapoors of the world, he thought, weren’t really up to the task. Naseer accepted gracefully. After a few days shooting, SRK conveyed his availability to the director and Naseer was unceremoniously sacked from the movie just at the time when he was mouthing, “To be or not to be”.
Or is one mixing it up with Rahul Dravid and his sacking from the ODI team?
Special thanks to Sfx for coming up with RD's alter ego.