The ultimate job of the police is to preserve the law, keep the
peace and protect the people and their properties. It is a cliche that
in Bollywood movies they always arrive late at the crime scene once the
hero
has thrashed all the baddies to pulp, but there are certain cops who
give the villain sleepless nights. This
week, BollyCurry presents you a list of Bollywood actors who have played
cops quite regularly
on-screen.
In the yesteryear movies, it was actor
Iftekhar Khan who
was famous for playing cop roles. He played a range of ranks from the Police Commissioner
in
Galiyon Ke Badshah,
Yudh and
Ram Tera
Desh, the Inspector General in
Paap Ko Jalaa Kar Raakh Kar Doonga and Senior Police Officer in
Itihas and
Insaniyat Ka Dushman. His role
in
Zanjeer as the cop though tiny also left an impact. His most famous role, however, was undoubtedly in
Don where he hires a simpleton named Vijay, trains him and plants
him as Don.
Next is the Khiladi Kumar,
Akshay Kumar, who has donned the khaki uniform in a lot of movies. In
Mohra he played Amar Saxena who avenges his father's death and Karan Joglekar in
Mein Khiladi Tu Anari who seeks revenge
for his brother's murder. He then played Sr Inspector Shekhar in
Khakee for who the lines between good
and bad had blurred out long time ago, and finally Vikram rathore, an honest courageous cop in
Rowdy
Rathore. He has also played the role effortlessly in
Police Force,
Aan Men at Work and pretended to be one in
Khiladi 786.
How can we miss our Dabangg Khan from this list?
Salman Khan started his stint as a police officer by playing Inspector
Sooraj in
Patthar Ke Phool who was in
love with an underworld don's daughter. Later he played Inspector Arjun Ranawat in
Garv Pride and Honour who takes the
law in his own hands and the IPS Officer Rajveer Shekhawat in
Wanted who works undercover and whose presence is enough to
frighten corrupt police officers and villains. However his most popular role as a cop was Chulbul Pandey, a
corrupt but endearing police officer in
the
Dabangg Franchise.
Sanjay Dutt is the next actor who has played the
cop to perfection in quite a few movies. He played Inspector Amar Sharma in
Taqatwar, Inspector Suraj Singh in
Naam O Nishan who is arrested for killing
a man named Anthony, then ACP Prithvi Raj Singh in
Kurukshetra who intimated dishonest police
officers, rouges and politicians. He also played Inspector Kabir Nayar in
Dhamaal who chases a criminal with hidden treasures worth 100 million. In
Zilla
Ghaiabad he plays the eccentric Thakur Vikram Singh, top cop Shamsher Khan in
Shootout at Lokhandwala and the tough
grey DCP Rudra in his last solo release,
Policegiri.
Ajay Devgn is best known for his tough police avatar in
Singham but he has played a cop in many other movies. He played tough
as nails cop in
Ganga Jal who tries
to improve the police force. In
Singham
he plays Bajirao Singham who has his own ethics and principles and can
effortlessly beat fifty baddies, pull out a street light and uses his belt to
thrash the wrongdoers - a bit of exaggeration though he was immensely loved for his performance. In
Deewane he
has played Vishal, one of the most feared cops on the police force. He has also
played corrupt cop ACP Rajveer in
Sunday
and Police Officer Sikander in
Masti who
tries to reform three men.
The Big B of Bollywood,
Amitabh Bachchan, has worn the
uniform in many movies as well. DCP Anant in
Khakee is one character who wants to prove his worth to the establishment and to himself while JCP Dev
Pratap singh in
Dev is a self righteous
cop. ACP Dasrath Singh in
Bunty Aur Babli was a new attempt by
the actor, be it his looks or his acts where hr tries to catch two con
artists and forgives them when he realizes they had
a change of heart. Later he portrayed the rustrated Inspector Vijay
Shrivastav who disguises himself
as Shehanshah, a costumed crime
fighter to brings criminals to justice, Inspector Vijay Verma in
Akayla whose friends are killed by the
villain and his brother is next on the hitlist. His most unforgettable role is
Zanjeer where he played Inspector
Vijay Khanna whose troubled past haunts him.
Here is one actor who managed to enter this list due to his cop roles in the
Dhoom series.
Abhishek Bachchan played
the no nonsense cop Jai Dixit who hardly wears his uniform in the
Dhoom franchise. Sporting leather jackets,
riding fast bikes and catching criminals who usually disappear in thin air, he's
undoubtedly one of the coolest cops in Bollywood, even if you think the other way around.
Bringing the list to its logical end, we have an actor who holds the
Guinness record in playing the maximum number of cop roles. The late
Jagdish Raj who passed away earlier this year holds the Guinness World
Record
of playing a cop in a staggering 144 movies. Few of his movies to
mention here are
Johhny Mera Naam,
Ram Teri Ganga Mali,
Magroor and
Do Chor.
The
guns are firing, goons are running for their lives and a police jeep is
chasing them with a gun pointed towards them. The jeep stops and the
cop hero makes his entry and fights the goons to arrest them and put
them behind bars. Well well, you must be wondering if we lost track -
not at all! All we wanted to remind you were the common situations you
would witness our cop heros in their films. Be it on-screen or
off-screen, these actors have done such appreciable jobs that we would
give them a thumps up and wish that they keep us entertaining with more
such characters in coming years. Until then, this writer would love to
know her readers' favorite actors who have played a cop on regular
basis.
Writer: Vibha B.
Editor(s): Siona M. and Jenifer Y.
Graphics: Virina R.
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