Here’s a list of what I think are the best Bollywood cameos ever!
Om Shanti Om was a coming together of some of the most over the top but finely parodied Bollywood elements. There were so many blink-and-you-miss-it appearances, so many lookalikes, duplicates, that you lost track, except for Akshay Kumar’s. Bollywood hasn’t seen a better cameo and if Filmfare or IIFA ever had to give someone the award for the best cameo ever, Akki in Om Shanti Om has to be the top contender.
Apologies to all the fans in advance, but I slept through this film until Salman Khan burst onto the screen. Those weren't the days when news leaked out from producer’s stable about who all they had on board for special appearances, and Salman Khan’s out-of-the-blue appearance as Kajol’s fiancée was a sudden storm that took many by surprise … and what a rocking surprise! Salman Khan gave KKHH that much needed effervescent, energetic, and tremendous fillip, the film so badly needed.
SRK’s Deepak Chopraesque gyaani cameo in Luck By Chance was one of the few saving graces in an otherwise dismal film. That moment where SRK sits Farhan down and explains to him why he shouldn’t ever disremember people who knew him before he became a star was stuff superstars are made of. It was a different SRK than the one we are used to see on screen - the un-flamboyant, un-boisterous, un-showy version of SRK. The one we would much prefer actually.
I genuinely believe Abhishekh Bachchan is a decent actor in his comfort zone. That he tries to venture outside it time and again is what brings his downfall over and over again. In his comfort zone though (Bluffmaster, Yuva, Guru, and this cameo) … Abhishekh Bachchan can work wonders. To begin with Salaam Namaste has been narrated by AB Jr. In any other hands, the voice over could’ve turned caricature-ish. AB Jr’s voice over has that tinge of mischief and a childishness that made all character introductions in Salaam Namaste believable. Then comes the bomb - the maternity ward climax where AB Jr. as an edgy and buffoony doctor juggles two deliveries at the same time. His comic timing is at its peak, the sheer energy he brings is commendable, and his chemistry with Saif Ali Khan only helps proceedings flourish more!
The character has been imitated numerous times. The lines have been rehashed over frequent stints by different actors. The cult has grown beyond human measures. Asrani’s jailer in Sholay was a one of its kind character - it had the strictness of Adolf Hitler, which was balanced with the goofiness of Charlie Chaplin. The character was majorly a desi and a more comedic version of Chaplin’s Dictator. So good was Asrani in the 15 odd minutes that he was in the film, that you keep wishing he makes one more quick appearance somewhere in the film.