Chunky Panday debuted in the 1987 film Aag Hi Aag opposite Neelam, thanks to producer Pahlaj Nihalani. On his 62nd birthday, Lehren shares a flashback interview with him about competitive actors and his best friend. Let’s watch.
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00:00Non-actor, no one has ever called me a non-actor.
00:04Yes, sometimes I have given 32 retakes.
00:07There was a time when I was doing 20-25 films at a time.
00:11And it was just for money basically.
00:13Not all, but most of it.
00:15Casanova who flirts with girls.
00:18It is my habit that I talk to everyone nicely.
00:21I talk to girls a little better.
00:24I am not working because I don't want to work.
00:27So I am in the same position like Amitabh Bachchan.
00:29Amitabh Bachchan.
00:34First of all, tell the audience something about your names Suyash and Chunky.
00:39How would I know my name?
00:42Well, my real name is Suyash.
00:45Pet name is Chunky.
00:48Whenever I go somewhere, my passport says Suyash.
00:52So if I am standing in an immigration line at an international airport
00:56and someone says Mr. Suyash.
00:59Then I see, who is he calling?
01:02Chunky was the name I was born with.
01:04So I am quite happy.
01:06But sometimes I feel that Chunky has some childhood like name.
01:12But a name is a name.
01:13And they say that rose, the rose flower,
01:16if its name was something else,
01:18still it would smell like that.
01:22Mr. Chunky, when you came into the industry,
01:24what was your vision at that time?
01:26To tell you the truth, to make money.
01:32But once you work in different films,
01:38then money becomes secondary.
01:41You enjoy doing your work, doing good work.
01:46You want to keep improving all the time.
01:48There was a time when I was doing 20 films at a time.
01:54And it was just for money basically.
01:57Not all, but most of it.
01:59But today, a good film has no priority for money.
02:06When you came into the industry,
02:08what were the struggles you had to face?
02:12Struggle?
02:13Struggle or rivalry?
02:16I am struggling now.
02:18So much competition, so many new faces, newcomers.
02:22At that time, it was just me and Govinda.
02:24Then came Aamir, Salman,
02:27now Akshay, Saif, Sunil, Shah Rukh.
02:30So there is a lot of competition,
02:32but one must keep up with the competition basically.
02:35Once Govinda had said that
02:37he is better at acting and dancing than you.
02:41I can't say anything about him because he is my senior.
02:44But yes, according to me,
02:49I feel he is Kamal Haasan, Govinda, Mithun.
02:54Three best dancers of India.
02:56I also consider Javed to be a very good dancer.
02:59But Govinda, for certain,
03:01after Sholashrabnam and Aankhe,
03:03there was a lot of improvement in him.
03:05After Aankhe, obviously, the work he did with me.
03:09I have never thought that I am better or he is better.
03:15But when we worked together,
03:17then it was something else.
03:19It was a lot of fun.
03:20So do you consider him your rival?
03:23See, rivalry is when,
03:25now imagine, in the movie Aankhe,
03:28we were not competing with each other
03:31that I should eat his scene or he should eat my scene.
03:34It was never like that.
03:35In fact, we used to help each other
03:37that you should say this line, he should say that line.
03:40It would be fun.
03:41So that's when the result came.
03:44That smoothness.
03:46So if there was some rivalry,
03:48then the movie would have been delayed.
03:50There would have been fights.
03:51That I will do this, he will do that.
03:52Why is he doing this?
03:53No, nothing like that.
03:54Nowadays, you are very popular on TV.
03:56Are you not getting films or is there some other reason?
04:00Why am I popular on TV?
04:02Why am I popular?
04:03Yes, I do a program 4 times a year.
04:05It is a program of my friend, Super 8 Mukabala.
04:07But I had a very good answer for this.
04:12I was thinking that day.
04:14People watch me on TV for free.
04:16I have to go to the theatre and pay.
04:18See, he is watching for free.
04:20Hey, sit properly.
04:23Sometimes I think that 30 crore people are watching me here
04:26on TV for free.
04:29Producers, keep it in mind that
04:32if 10% of its population comes to the theatre,
04:35then my movie will be a hit.
04:37I am not doing any serial or virial.
04:39I am just doing interviews.
04:41People come and take my interviews on demand.
04:43On public demand.
04:44They want me to say something.
04:47On TV and such things.
04:49But the medium of TV,
04:51I am not used to it basically.
04:53Because the environment of the people
04:55who work in films is different.
04:59I am very used to the sound of the camera.
05:04For example, the sound of a film camera.
05:07In a TV camera, you don't know
05:09whether the camera is working or not.
05:11So, it's a totally different medium.
05:15People say that you have to act on TV
05:17and also in films.
05:19But both the mediums are very different.
05:21Which one do you like more,
05:23TV or cinema?
05:26TV is...
05:28You see, there's an elephant.
05:34Then, there's the trunk of the elephant.
05:37Cinema is an elephant.
05:40Television is the trunk.
05:42Magazines is one leg.
05:44You see, it is part...
05:47If no cinema comes on TV,
05:51then people who watch TV will reduce it.
05:54I mean, I want the TV industry to grow more.
05:57But they should not be film-based.
05:59They shouldn't depend so much on film artists.
06:03Like your program, you are depending on film artists.
06:06Suppose you don't have film artists,
06:08then what do you make?
06:10So, I want that Doordarshan, Star TV
06:13and all the different televisions,
06:15the top programs these days,
06:17are all on film songs.
06:19But in the same way,
06:21I have understood that these days,
06:23actors have got more publicity because of television.
06:25For example, there was a time
06:27when songs took a lot of time to become famous.
06:30Once a movie was made,
06:32then the songs became famous.
06:34Now, songs become famous even before a movie is made.
06:36So, that is because of television.
06:38So, they are interrelated.
06:39But television can never take the place of cinema.
06:42And cinema can never take the place of television.
06:44Chunky, you have played so many roles.
06:47So, from which role do you get the most satisfaction?
06:50A lot of satisfaction.
06:52All my roles give me good satisfaction.
06:54But I get the most satisfaction
06:56when the movie hits.
06:58Do you have any role in mind
07:00that you would like to play in the future?
07:03There are a lot of roles.
07:05But your program, how many minutes is it?
07:08There are different kinds of roles.
07:10But they should come in my life.
07:12They should come in my life.
07:14Chunky, people call you mama's boy.
07:16So, how do you feel?
07:18Why? M stands for mother.
07:19You can never get another.
07:22Why mama's boy?
07:23No, but people have called you mama's boy.
07:25Okay, they have.
07:26I didn't know.
07:30Maybe I look like my mother. That's why.
07:34And there are times when people call you Casanova Chunky.
07:38What is the existence of Casanova here?
07:41Casanova?
07:42What does Casanova mean?
07:43Come on, you know something.
07:44What do I know?
07:45Now, do you know what Casanova means?
07:49No, you tell me.
07:52Casanova is the one who flirts with girls.
07:55It is my habit to talk to everyone nicely.
07:57I talk to girls a little better.
08:01By the way, I am a very decent man.
08:03I have only one girlfriend.
08:04Which you all know.
08:06But mostly, magazines have made this.
08:09And my look is like Casanova.
08:13I don't mind.
08:14I don't mind anything.
08:16Are you engaged to anyone right now or are you getting married?
08:21If I was engaged, then I would have exchanged rings.
08:24Where did my ring go?
08:27I am neither engaged nor am I married.
08:31By the way, I don't believe in engagement.
08:36And when I get married, I will never hide it.
08:40So are you afraid of getting married?
08:42I am not afraid of anything.
08:46And let me tell you one thing that nothing is permanent also.
08:51Neither is engagement permanent, nor is marriage permanent.
08:56Neither you are permanent, nor am I permanent.
08:58Anything can happen.
09:00It's relationships.
09:02Like your behavior with someone, your relationship.
09:06Chunky, by the way, if you look at it, you compare yourself with Amitabh Bachchan many times.
09:11It is said that there are two people in the industry today.
09:15Chunky and Amitabh.
09:17He doesn't work, I don't get work.
09:19He was just making jokes.
09:21I make jokes on other artists, so I thought I should make jokes on myself.
09:26I am a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan and I hope he doesn't mind.
09:29But I didn't make a joke on him, I made a joke on myself.
09:32And when I was saying that I don't get work, I don't get my kind of work.
09:38I don't get my kind of work, the work I want to do.
09:41By the way, I get offers for two movies every day.
09:43But I don't want to do that kind of movies.
09:46You know, C-grade films, where the producer is not known, the director is someone else.
09:51The movie will be half, how it will be made, it will be made in poverty, it will be forced.
09:55I have done 4-5 movies like this.
09:58I don't want to make this mistake that I project something like this again.
10:05I am not working because I don't want to work.
10:08So, I am in the same position like Amitabh Bachchan.
10:11Who is your best friend in the industry?
10:14Who is my best friend?
10:17My best friend?
10:20I have a lot of friends.
10:23My best friend is my dog.
10:25In the industry?
10:27In the film industry?
10:29Yes, in the film industry.
10:31Pelaji is like my mentor, like my father.
10:34By the way, I have a good friendship with Rajiv Rai.
10:39I have a good friendship with a lot of people.
10:43Good friendships.
10:45In the industry?
10:47But there must be someone who is closest to you or who you like to confide in.
10:54No, I don't confide in myself.
10:58No, there is no one like that.
11:01Do you have a favourite co-star?
11:04The person I work with becomes my favourite.
11:07Whoever it is.
11:09I have never had a problem with any co-star.
11:13I make every co-star of mine feel very important and very special.
11:17Chunky, who is your favourite young generation actor?
11:22Nowadays, all of them are good.
11:34Shah Rukh is good, Salman has been very good.
11:37Akshay, good action.
11:40He does it well.
11:42Sunil is also very good.
11:44Very good.
11:46The way he presents himself is also very good.
11:55I liked Saif a lot in this film.
11:58I liked him very much in that film.
12:02So it depends on the film.
12:04I liked Shah Rukh a lot in Dar.
12:09It depends on the film, basically.
12:11Do you have a favourite couple on screen?
12:15Favourite couple?
12:20I can't think of one.
12:22There are so many.
12:26Favourite couple?
12:30I can't think of one.
12:32Everyone is doing different combinations.
12:34I can't think of a regular pairing.
12:35Neelam Govinda used to come in a lot of films.
12:39Sonam and I used to do a lot of films together.
12:42Now that system is gone.
12:44It's not there anymore.
12:46Chunky, when you give an interview, you give very witty answers.
12:50What is the reason for this?
12:53I have 12 writers at home who write good lines for me.
13:01The best couple was me and Sunny in Lutere.
13:05He makes Sunny Sardarji.
13:07Best couple.
13:09I have a good tuning with Sunny.
13:12I have done maximum films with Sunny.
13:16We only meet on sets, but we have a good tuning.
13:23This is my fourth film with him.
13:25Paap Ki Duniya, Vishwa Atma, Lutere, Pathar Aur Payal.
13:30So he is a good fellow.
13:32I have the same birth sign, Libran.
13:34And with Insaniyat Vicky.
13:36Everyone wants to forget that film.
13:41We said that you are very witty.
13:46Witty?
13:48What is the spelling of witty?
13:52It's natural.
13:54You have to have a natural sense of humour.
13:56I am always happy.
13:58I have never cried over anything.
14:01I have never cried.
14:03And when something depresses me,
14:07or makes me sad,
14:10I remove that from my mind.
14:13I try to stay happy.
14:15Even in my low phase, I try to stay happy.
14:19So I automatically have a sense of humour.
14:22That's why people say that I am not serious.
14:25I am serious.
14:27I don't show it, but...
14:29Journalists are your favourite,
14:32because you copy them well.
14:34Do you do this on purpose,
14:36to be in their good books?
14:38No, no.
14:40Whenever a new journalist comes in a magazine,
14:43if they are asked to do an interview,
14:46they always say Chanki Pandey's interview.
14:49In fact, someone told me that day,
14:52I buy a magazine,
14:54and the first thing I buy,
14:56I hope there is a Chanki Pandey interview.
14:58That's nice.
15:00And a girl told me,
15:02you know something,
15:04your interviews are better than your films.
15:06I said, oh my god.
15:08But it doesn't make a difference,
15:10because she does not see Hindi films.
15:13So she is no judge to my films.
15:16Judges are always masters.
15:19Tell me more.
15:21Wear your glasses.
15:23Yes.
15:25Chanki, people have called you a non-actor.
15:28But what would you say?
15:30Non-actor.
15:32That's why I am wearing glasses.
15:34No one has ever called me a non-actor.
15:39Yes, sometimes I have given 32 retakes.
15:42Sometimes there was confusion,
15:44but no one has ever said that
15:46Chanki Pandey was bad in the film.
15:48He is always average, he is good,
15:50he is improved, he is better.
15:54When you do the regular hero role,
15:58there is very little scope.
16:00Because the hero is good,
16:02he fights for justice,
16:04he fights for his mother,
16:06he fights for his sister,
16:08he does this, he does that.
16:10So there are a standard 5-6 formulas in it.
16:12But when you do the character,
16:14like I did in Tezab or Lutere,
16:16then there are variations.
16:18When the hero is the character,
16:20then there are variations.
16:22You know, you get a scope.
16:25But,
16:27like Govinda has started a lot of characters,
16:30Shah Rukh does a lot of character heroes.
16:32But the pictures we used to do 5-7 years ago,
16:35the college boy came out,
16:37his mother died, this happened,
16:39he got angry.
16:41Now people have,
16:43inspector will always be good,
16:45so you have to get the kind of role
16:47to show your work basically.
16:49And I got the typecast that
16:51Chanki Pandey does a very good comedy role.
16:53You know, light comedy, this kind of role.
16:54Maybe people felt that
16:56he can just do one kind of thing.
16:58That is why I have stopped
17:00doing this kind of role.
17:02I am doing different kind of roles altogether.