Gajendra Chauhan
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The Times of India, Jul 11 2015
Premier film institute's chair a 34-yr veteran of C-grade exploits
Deeptiman Tiwary
"Ball uchhalti hui kahan ja rahi ho, bat to mere paas hai“. These are words that Gajendra Chauhan suggestively throws at the heroine of `Jungle Love' -one of the few films he has had any substantial role in. When the agitation over his appointment as chairman of FTII Pune began last month, the actor made this statement in his defence: “I have 34 years of experience in the industry. I would like to share that for the better.“
TOI went through some of that experience and found Chauhan was not lying about his credentials. His career began in TV and Bollywood in the early 80s, much before he played Yudhishtir in B R Chopra's epic series Mahabharat in 1988.
Chauhan has worked in over 50 films, where his roles have ranged from cameos -in mainstream films such as `Baghban' and `International Khiladi' -to rather `meaty' ones in `Khuli Khidki' and `Vasna'.
In the 1989 film `Khuli Khidki', which came immediately after Mahabharat made Chauhan a revered figure nationwide, the current FTII chairman hogs maximum screen space as the scheming, promiscuous villain. In scene after scene, he is seen disrobing one woman after another as the protagonist, a peeping Tom, watches through a window. There are close to a dozen such shots.
The film ends with Chauhan getting beaten up and arrested as he attempts to rape the hero's girlfriend while spouting dialogues such as “Mohabbat ki jo chingari tumne mere dil mein jagaai thi, wo ab hawas ki aag ban chuki hai“. Some of his other notable appearances on the big screen include films such as `Jungle Queen', `Jungle ka Beta', `Jungle Hero', `Bhayanak Panja' and `Rupa Rani Ramkali'.
In the 1990 film `Jungle Love' -a Tarzan movie -Chauhan plays a western style gunslinger in search of a hidden treasure. He dies 35-minutes into the film from snake bite after attempting to rape Jane. His lascivious advances had already been spurned by Jane in classic Bollywood style: “Gandi naali mein gota lagane wale vasana ke keede!“ Despite several attempts, TOI could not trace several of Chauhan's films, in which he had his characters well `fleshed' out. Perhaps, no one bothered to preserve these classics that may well have hogged the shelf reserved for cult films like Mithun-starrer `Gunda'.
