Thursday, December 22, 2005

Finest Performances

Then there are those performances that leave an indelible impression on your mind You see a divine connection over there. A typical case where the ‘karta’ that is the doer becomes one with the creation. Last night sitting with Bala and speaking about some performances has induced me to put my list of some of the best performances by an actor that I have ever seen on celluloid. The list is not based on any ascending or descending order of my preference nor does it claim to be a comprehensive one. It stands purely on the basis of occurrence in my mind and nothing else.

1. Pankaj Kapur as Abbaji in Maqbool – what command over characterization.


2. Nasserudin Shah as the blind principal in Sparsh – the finesse of a hard working actor. A must see for any aspiring genuine actor.

3. Marlon Brando as Don Corelone in The Godfather – I


4. Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II


5. Al Pacino as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman


6. Robert de Niro in Taxi Driver


7. Om Puri in Ardh Satya


8. Kamal Hasan in Sadma – very genuine.


9. Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay in Deewar


10. Amjad Khan as Gabbar in Sholay


11. Dilip Prabhawalkar as Chaukat Raja


12. Sulbha Deshpande in Chaukat Raja


13. Smita Patil in Bhumika


14. Amol Palekar in Bhumika


15. Dustin Hoffman in Rainman


16. Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie


17. Meryl Streep in Kramer vs Kramer


18. Aamir Khan in Rangeela


19. Shah Rukh Khan in Swades


20. Judith Anderson in Rebecca


21. Naseerudin Shah as Piroj in Pestonji


22. Naseerudin Shah as Rajaram in Katha


23. Yul Brynner in The Ten Commandments


24. Shabana Azmi as Pooja in Arth


25. Amitabh Bachchan as Jai in Sholay

(Thanx to rpm for reminding, am adding these two)

26. Sean Penn in I am Sam


27. Adrian Brody in The Pianist


28. Minal's addition - Rekha in Khubsoorat


I am sure I have missed out on many superlative performances. I shall keep on adding to the list as and when they come to my mind. Also you guys too let me know of the performances that I have missed out on.

6 Comments:

Blogger RPM said...

How about:

Sean Penn in I am Sam
Adrian Brody in Pianist

And you've got me thinking for more! :-)

December 22, 2005 9:43 AM

 
Blogger Minal said...

Ok here is one more:
Rekha in Khubsoorat
(One of the most natural acting performances I've seen)
And let me think some more and I'll come back with it:-)

December 22, 2005 8:39 PM

 
Blogger Mystic Bard said...

@RPM
Wow...yes i had missed out on both these...see them added now thanx;-)

@Minal
ummm..Rekha..ok..yeah...it was indeed a natural performance...chalo granted..tee hee;-)

December 22, 2005 9:17 PM

 
Blogger Ye manzilen !! said...

Yo Bros!
Wha about Tim Burton in Shsshawnk Redemption and Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump? Sanjeev Kumar, Suchitra Sen in Aandhi, Dev Anand in Guide. What about Kishor Kumar and Mehmmood in Padosan......list can be long?
Shahid

December 23, 2005 6:30 PM

 
Blogger SPM said...

I hope the list is not in any order of priority, because no. 1 on the list is certainly not a numero uno in this august list. Also SRK in Swades.. naw.. not that great to merit a mention in all time finest performances.

Its hard to remember 'best performances' directly, so I approach the situation from a different angle. Look at some great actors and then remember their best acts, and we may come up with a list. For example:
1. Amitabh - I see Deewar and Sholay mentioned here. Were these really his best two performances? I would believe Black would make the cut here, and perhaps Zanjeer and Anand from early days, and maybe Agneepath too.

2. A guy who's got to belong in a list like this has to be Sanjeev Kumar. Again several performances which were outstanding. Including Sholay, Khamoshi, Trishul, Aandhi, etc.

3. Dilip Kumar - I don't remember many of his old films off hand, but there were several memorable performances, for sure.

4. Aamir Khan - besides Rangeela, his first film QSQT, and also films like Sarfarosh, Lagaan, might make the cut.

5. SRK - Veer Zaara?

6. Rajesh Khanna - Anand

7. Anupam Kher - Saraansh

I am sure there are more. Just a few that came to the mind.

December 26, 2005 10:39 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Everyone!

This is Chinmay Joshi.

I like these indian movie Actors most:

Raj Kapoor in Sangam-can ne1 beat him?

Prithvi Raj Kapoor in Mugal-e-Azam- perfect match for shehenshah akbar-one of the great emporer of india! bhaari awaaz,akad aur gusse se bhara chehera! recall his style of saying:"shekhu"

Dilip Kumar in Mugal-e-Azam- Baap ke khilaf bagawat karane ko taiyaar,mohobbat ke liye jaan tak dene ko taiyaar.Bigade dil shehezade!

Nasaruddin Shah in Pastonj-I bet,if any actor in india can do this role except him

Amjad Khan,Dharmendra and Amitab Bachchan in Sholay-U know!no need to say anything about them

Rajesh Khanna in Anand-Yeh film aap ko surely rula degi..i bet!

Amitab Bachchan in Baghban-remake of rajesh khanna's "avataar",but still,watch baghban,and u will forget about "avataar"

Paresh Rawal in Tamanna-In this movie,Paresh Rawal's acting covered up all the other actors

Kamal Hasan in Sadama,Hindustani and Chachi 420.-Sadama me bahot rulaya,Hindustani ne atma ko jagaya-generation awake movie,chachi 420 ne hasa hasa ke pet me dard kar diya

Anupam Kher in Daddy and Saaransh-Amazing Movies-10 out of 10 to directors,and 100 out of 10 to Anupam Kher for acting!

Shahrukh Khan in Swades and Devdas-Unlike Raj Kapoor in Sangam,only Shahrukh Khan can do this "NRI role" in industry..In Devdas role,only Dilip Kumar can give him a competition in the industry

Aamir Khan in Lagaan and Mangal Pandey-No need to say anything about him!U know very well..

Rishi Kapoor in Karz and Abhimaan-Chocolaty image of Karz,one of the gr8 looking Heros of India.Well,very small role in Abhimaan,i liked his perfomance in Abhimaan most.

Nana Patekar in Krantiveer and Yashawant-Always playing Psycho-Whacho and "rebel of this society" kind of roles,but still i like his acting in Krantiveer and Yashawant.

Will Submit more actors and actresses gr8 roles posting very soon...

February 17, 2006 9:18 AM

 

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