Kulbhushan Kharbanda reminisces shooting for 'Shaan' and shaving his head for Shakaal’s character

Kulbhushan Kharbanda (L) as Shakaal (Photo/PR)

Ramesh Sippy is undoubtedly regarded as one of the most iconic filmmakers in India. Sippy's movies are not only known for their intriguing storylines and edge of the seat action but have also won accolades for their characterisations. One such character is Shaakal, portrayed by the legendary Kulbhushan Kharbanda in the 1980 movie 'Shaan'.

Shaan's plot revolves around DCP Shiv Kumar, an honest police officer who lives with his family and two brothers. During a case's investigation, Shiv Kumar gets killed by Shakaal, leading to the two brothers avenge his death. The iconic action thriller starred Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, and Shashi Kapoor.

Ahead of the film's television premiere, the veteran actor reminisced about the character, saying, "I feel glad to see how Shakaal's character over the years has evolved to be one of the best negative characters in Bollywood. The character was inspired by Ernst Stavro Blofeld's character from the James Bond series and demanded me to shave my head. When we shoot with cameras, we cannot fool the audience. The camera captures every minute detail. Hence, I had to shave my head to fit in character. Shakaal's character was written with multiple layers, which made it more exciting for me to portray it on the screen."

While we all look upon the heroes in a typical Bollywood movie, we can't deny that there have been times when the film's villains have grabbed our attention. That is surely the sign of a great actor- the ability to portray the grey shaded character and yet manage to be the highlight of the film. Kharbanda in the role of Shakaal is one such man who stole the show with his acting prowess.

When he says, "Shakaal ke haath me jitney patte hote hai, utne hi patte uske aasteen me bhi hote hai", he literally steals the show, which also makes him a crucial 'hero' of the film.

The actor, who was last in Amazon Prime Video's popular series 'Mirzapur', further adds, "Makers of the film, 'Shaan' had seen 'Godhuli' (1977) and 'Manthan' (1976), which were very popular films of those times. In the film 'Godhuli', Salim Khan had seen me in bald character and was very impressed with my performance. When he was working on this film, he offered me to play Shakaal's character. I am very grateful for him for offering me this memorable character."

Talking about his camaraderie with director Ramesh Sippy, he shared, "Ramesh Sippy is a great director and a person to work with. I am glad that we crossed paths and Shaan happened. I feel I was lucky enough to meet him and bag this wonderful project."

'Shaan' is all set to premiere on July 25 on Sony Max2.

Also Read: Ramesh Sippy: Would like to revisit legendary actor Dilip Kumar's work again