Babu Rao

Seen in most films with a dhoti on his waist, a torn sweatshirt and big black glasses resting on his nose, Paresh Rawal's timing of comedy is commendable. But the actor with Padma Shri has the skill of stealing hearts even when he appears in more serious and negative roles.

A fishy picture; Source: Filmibeat

Most millennials know him as one of the funniest actors alive. Credit should be given where credit is due. With his epic dialogue deliveries as well as facial expressions, Paresh Rawal's Babu Rao has been the creative child of many meme makers. From Hera Pheri to Phir Se Hera Pheri, the actor's skills are nothing close to cheating.

His versatility in acting is much appreciated by the audience due to the impact he has on the film. Of course, in most of his films, he was cast as a protagonist so him affecting the film would be obvious. However, his portrayals of certain villains and comedic characters cannot be imagined in any actor's able hands. This perfection of character took him to far heights, and we can see where he stands today.

Starting off in a supporting role in Arjun (1985), his acting skills were just too good to be left without more support as the very next year, the Hindi thriller Naam saw his talents being recognized by the public and critics alike.

Who can forget Babu Rao? Only those who have not watched the classic Hera Pheri and its sequel. The crass accent and the portrayal of a kind but dumb landlord put the audience in splits, but it was unanimous that they loved it.

After Hera Pheri, Paresh Rawal starred in many films as a protagonist and would go on to produce hits like Aankhen, a film about blind robbers? Blind or not, a simple google search can tell you this film has a very similar plot as the 1978 film Blind Rage. Not sourcing the inspiration is just one of Bollywood's main personalities. Inspired or not, Paresh Rawal played it flawlessly, his mix of comedy and seriousness in the film was mainly what drove its success, much like Hera Pheri.

His comedy films are many of the classics that came on repeat on Sony Max, so many former children have memories of either eating mangoes and laughing sweats in the summer. Even continuing to do so in the future when their mundane jobs become a burden in life, and they just need a good comedy classic that does not use crass dirty jokes or a huge budget to portray its humour.

Always making us laugh or even cry as in Akshay Kumar's OMG, where an ounce of reality hit the audience so deep that they deepened Akshay Kumar's pockets with a hefty amount of 149 crores when he had invested only 20 crores in the film.

For Paresh Rawal, his showcase of awards being named would not matter. Almost every great actor gets rewarded occasionally with a block of steel sheepishly created to become an achievement. However, the true awards lay in all the people that laughed till they died, metaphorically. It helped the audience forget a piece of their harsh reality and just enjoy the craft, or the children who now make Babu Rao memes and share them every day, not knowing how this piece has already been nailed in history and how it will continue to do so in the future due to their efforts in making their crushes laugh.

Paresh Rawal has also acted in various soap dramas, and while his acting career is far from over, Sanju showed us again how he can be anyone he wants to. The final third of the Hera Pheri series also has been confirmed but due to the virus, it remains whether the film would be released or not.