For these Bollywood movies, lead actor/actress portrayed a film actor onscreen

Today I watched 1994 super hit comedy film – Mein Khiladi Tu Anari, starring Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan. I watched it last time long back during my school days in the 1990s. It’s definitely a nice and entertaining film, and what attracted me most is the comic role played by Saif Ali Khan as a romantic film actor. He just stole my heart. Then a thought struck my mind. How often have film stars essayed a film star on screen, for any Bollywood? How many films have shown celluloid onscreen?

I think it’s very rare, and if we list successful films, the list narrows. I searched online to get a list of such films, but couldn’t find such a topic. So I thought just to add a few which now strikes my memory. I may miss many, and I shall add them if I come across any of them. Please, you can help me too…. There are many instances like film stars appearing in cameo roles as themselves for movies. For instance- Dharmendra and Hema Malini in the popular ‘Jaaneman Jaaneman‘ song sung by Yesudas. I have excluded such instances, and concentrated only on to full-length roles.

Saif Ali Khan in Mein Khiladi Tu Anari (1994) – Let me start this list with this action comedy. When we list films where film actors portrayed film actors onscreen, if we specify comic roles, Saif Ali Khan in Mein Khiladi Tu Anari can never miss our list. He portrayed popular actor Deepak Kumar with perfection, and his screen chemistry with Akshay Kumar was just amazing.

Urmila Matondkar in Rangeela (1995) and Mast (1999) – Both the movies were directed by Ram Gopal Varma, and Urmila’s glamorous role in Rangeela made her an overnight sensation. She played an ordinary girl Mili whose dreams are big and she finally pursues her dreams to become an actress. It looks like Mast is an extension of Rangeela, where the actress enjoys super stardom. Mast was also commercially successful. Let me add, Jackie Shroff played actor Raj Kamal in Rangeela.

Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in Om Shanti Om (2007) – When it comes to movies belonging to this genre, Om Shanti Om is one among the major hits. The movie directed by Farah Khan was also based on the theme of incarnation, where Deepika Padukone’s character Shantipriya plays a successful heroine of 1970s, while Shah Rukh’s character Om Kapoor plays a superstar of present generation. The movie also gives us a few glimpses of the social life of film stars, especially through the song, Deewangi Deewangi.

Shah Rukh Khan in Fan (2016) – Let me quickly add one more SRK film to the list. Though SRK received praises for his flawless acting skills in a dual role, the movie was not a major hit. As superstar Aryan Khanna, he fully justified his role. It looked like a replica of real life of superstar Shah Rukh Khan onscreen, while he also played a fan named Gaurav Chandna in the film.

Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture (2011) – Definitely, the career defining role of Vidya’s career, her role as adult actress Silk Smitha earned her numerous honours including National Film awards and Filmfare awards for best actress.

Manisha Koirala in Akele Hum Akele Tum (1995) – In the beginning she pursues a career in singing, but later becomes an actress. She finely portrayed the life of a lonely star, estranged from her husband and child. The movie also fared average at box office.

Kangana Ranaut in Woh Lamhe (2006) and Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai (2010) – Kangana portrays an actress and model with ease on silver screen. Her character Sana Azim in Woh Lamhe was modelled on actress Parveen Babi. She played actress Rehana Shergill, Ajay Devgan’s love interest in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai. Both these roles were well received. She also portrayed a similar kind of role of a supermodel in movie, Fashion, which bagged her National film awards in a supporting role.

Waheeda Rehman in Kaagaz Ka Phool (1959) – Let us move backward and go to B&W era of Bollywood. She played Shanti, a successful actress in the film. Interestingly her character was modelled on herself and her relationship with its film director Guru Dutt. Though the movie flopped at box office, it earned a cult classic status later. Read a few more interesting facts related to the film.

Reena Roy, Raj Babbar & Dharmendra in Naukar Biwi Ka (1983) – This comedy film was a love triangle too, where Reena Roy co-starred Dharmendra, Raj Babbar and Anita Raj. Reena Roy and Raj Babbar played well-established actors, while Dharmendra is a newcomer to the industry. Among the three actors as actors, Reena Roy as Sandhya stole the scene by portraying a super successful actress who is lonely in her real life, and her one-sided love towards Dharmendra is not replicated by him.

Dharmendra in Guddi (1971) – Here let me add one more Dharmendra film. This comedy film starred Dharmendra as himself, in a lead role. Interesting, right? Jaya Bhaduri plays his addicted fan in this movie.

Amol Palekar, Soni Razdan and Shabana Azmi in Khamosh (1985) – Let me add one more similar film, where film actors portrayed themselves for a full-length film. In this thriller, these three actors portrayed fictional versions of themselves as film actors. It is an experimental film actually. Amol Palekar appeared in the rare villain role in this film.

Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in Sanju (2018) – Let me conclude the list with Sanju, where Ranbir Kapoor portrayed actor Sanjay Dutt on screen. Kapoor did a lot of preparations for the role, and he matched perfectly with Dutt in mannerisms, body language, dialogue delivery etc. He also bagged Filmfare award for best actor. Sonam Kapoor also played a real-life actress for the first time on screen – Tina Munim. She has earlier portrayed the role of a model and air hostess in Neerja.

Kareena Kapoor in Heroine and Katrina Kaif in Zero can also be added to this list, where both portrayed star heroines. However both these films were box office flops. Before I conclude, let me add a fact. For year 2019, south Indian actress Keerthy Suresh bagged National award for best actress for Telugu-Tamil bilingual Mahanati, where she portrayed south Indian actress Savithri onscreen. Only Vidya Balan has managed to bag this award before, for portraying any real-life actress. She won the honour for the first time for 2011 movie, Dirty Picture, here also for portraying a south Indian actress – Silk Smitha.