From ‘Sarbjit’ to ‘Rang Rasiya’, Randeep Hooda at his diverse best

‘Main Aur Charles’

Charles Sobhraj was a notorious serial killer who gave even the toughest cops a race for their reputation. The film 'Main Aur Charles' was inspired by true events of Amod Kanth, the police officer who handles Sobhraj's case. Randeep Hooda essayed Sobhraj's character in the film and he was dark-n-delicious! Shrewd yet calm, courageous yet calm, no one else could have done it better than Hooda!

‘Highway’

Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Highway’ was a critical as well as commercial success where Mahabir (Randeep Hooda) kidnaps Veera (Alia Bhatt), the daughter of an influential and rich man. They move to different cities to escape from the police, and in due course, the strangest thing happens as the two fall in love with each other. Hooda’s character in it carried beautiful contrasts; a rough underworld dog who longs for his long-dead mother’s touch, a man without mercy who suddenly discovers himself in love. Besides, it was an extremely non-glamorous one. Intense and soul-stirring, it came alive with Hooda’s performance.

‘Kick’

A commercial film like ‘Kick’ and Randeep Hooda’s image do not go well together, we know. But with this he proved that he is an actor who fits himself into any genre. In ‘Kick’, he played a cop who chases a notorious robber called Devil (Salman Khan). When Salman Khan is there, he usually steals all the screen presence and even the lead actress is not given a lot of emphasis many times. However, ‘Kick’ was one film, where after Salman, it was Hooda who took away maximum screen presence and did complete justice to it. Thanks to this, later Salman proposed Hooda’s name where the casting for ‘Sultan’ was on.

‘Rang Rasiya’

‘Rang Rasiya’ was based on the life of Raja Ravi Varma, an appreciated Indian artist whose paintings are one of the best examples of a fusion of European techniques and Indian painting style. As shown in the film, Ravi Varma was dragged to the court as he experimented with portraits of women, sketching the beauty of a woman body. Back then, painting an uncovered or semi-covered woman figure was considered obscene. The British Government, although included many enlightened and rational minds, didn’t want to harm the beliefs and sentiments of the Indians. Ravi Varma’s character was of an artist who was unapologetic about his visions, his conflicts with his the contemporary irrational minds and also his lust for beauty. Hooda brilliantly assimilated the character into himself.

‘Bombay Talkies’

‘Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh’ directed by Karan Johar was a part of the 2014 film ‘Bombay Talkies’, a compilation of four short films. It tells the story of a homosexual man Avinash (Saqib Saleem) who is just out of the closet and is dealing with anger, frustration and helplessness. He infatuates on Dev (Randeep Hooda) who is already married. However, Avinash’s affection for Dev destroys everything, including a marriage. Hooda was daring enough to kiss Saqib on-screen and brilliantly performed a character in dilemma.

‘Sarbjit’

This is one of Randeep Hooda's latest releases and it left us awestruck! A biopic on Indian farmer Sarabjit Singh who was convicted in pakistan in charges of spying and died a sad death in jail, 'Sarbjit' features Hooda in the title role. He went through a shocking transformation and achieved the look of a skinny, tortured man. We almost did not believe someone could deliver such an intense performance, until we saw him!