Onscreen King of Crooks

His onscreen look as Lajja Shankar Pandey howling with blood smeared on his face, looking straight into your eyes still haunts every 90s kid from the 1999 film Sangharsh. Here’s how the villain of Bollywood made it big on the silver screen.

The most popular villain of industry, actor Ashutosh Rana; Image Source: Eastereye.biz

More than two decades have passed since the iconic villain of our childhood horrors is still alive and fresh in our minds. The sari clad man, howling like a maniac in the middle of an encounter from the 1999 film Sangharsh, played by actor Ashutosh Rana never imagined he will be setting an image of a cult villain character in our minds to remember him forever.

Ashutosh Ramnarayan Neekhra spent his childhood in the city of Gadarwara of Madhya Pradesh. He was an acting enthusiast and had been playing the role of Ravana in local Ramleela with great dedication. Unacquainted with the idea that he shall be ruling the film industry with some of the iconic and cold-blooded psychopathic roles of villain.

A religious man in his real life, he is a strong believer and practitioner of karma and cultural ethics. In a famous incident, as he recalled in an interview, he was on sets with the famous film director Mahesh Bhatt and out of gratitude he bowed down to touch his feet. This enraged Bhatt and he asked him to get out of his sight as he was not comfortable with anyone touching his feet to seek blessings. After facing the insult and getting shunned from his set, he came across Bhatt on many occasions and would repeat the act. After several such encounters at last, in a good mood, Bhatt asked why did he not leave the practice of touching his feet despite the anguish levelled against him since the first time. He replied, it's in my culture and I always touch the feet of my elders to seek their blessing.

The incident impacted Bhatt so much that he casted him in his Television serial Swabhiman as an antagonist. And after this, his acting career in television saw a boom with serials like Farz, Sazish, Aahat, Kabhi Kabhi, Dhundh, Waris and the recently released web series Chhatrasal. His recent releases have been Pagglait, War, Hungama 2, Milan Talkies, Simmba and Dhadak on the big screen with his portrayal of supporting and substantial roles.

An alumnus of National School of Drama, and a former law student he was offered a job in NSD but he set it aside to accomplish his dreams in the film city of Bombay. His break on the silver screen was at the age of 32 when he was casted in the 1996 movie Sanshodhan. But his biggest hit which shot him to the greatest fame till date was the 1998 movie Dushman starring him as the lead villain alongside actors Kajol and Sanjay Dutt. His next big flick was Sangharsh. His numbing performances in these films bagged him the Filmfare award in the category of Best Villain. He proved his versatility by acting in various South Indian movies of Kannada, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu languages and won equal lauds and appreciation in South Indian Cinema.

Married to actor Renuka Shahane, he is blessed with two adorable sons Shauryaman and Satyendra. A very few people are aware that Ashutosh Rana is also an author of books like Maun Muskan ki Maar and Ramrajya.

An actor, an anchor, a storyteller and a poet, Ashutosh Rana is more than a vile character on screen whose charms and wits would not match any other actor in industry. A calm and composed person in real apart from his aggressive reel roles, his humility and respect for his fans makes him one of the most loved villains the industry has ever had.

His role of an offender, Lajja Shankar Pandey from the movie Sangharsh remains iconic till date; Image Source: Vagabomb.com