Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin KBE was born on April 16, 1889. Today marks his 131st birth anniversary and even 42 years after his death, the legendary actor, composer and filmmaker trends worldwide.
In fact, there are a handful of names that are known in every corner of the world. One of them has to Charlie Chaplin. In some point of time in our lives, Chaplin has made us laugh. His acts may be from a different era, but they never seem to age. With his expressions and comic timing, Chaplin spread laughter and smiles to a world suffering from wars, disease and financial stress.
A worldwide icon, Chaplin, has inspired many across the world. Well, even Bollywood has had its Chaplin moments. From Raj Kapoor in Shree 420 to Mehmood in Aulaad to Asrni in Sholay to Chiranjeevi to Kamal Hassan, many fine actors have paid homage to the English actor with their respective acts. In the recent memory, Ranbir Kapoor’s act in Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani and Ranveer Singh’s photoshoot as Chaplin had fans divided on who would pull it off better.
Even Aamir Khan’s Chup Chaap Charlie from Dhoom 3 was inspired by Chaplin.
In a male-dominated Bollywood industry, Sridevi arguably delivered the most energetic and loved Chaplin performance in Shekhar Kapur’s sci-fi drama Mr India (1987). The late actor etched one of the most iconic comedy scenes in Bollywood history.
Watch Sridevi as Chaplin:
India hasn’t seen a lot of females in mainstream comedy. Glamorous, a fine dancer and an actor par excellence, Sridevi’s comic timing remains underrated and rarely explored.
Paying an apt tribute to Sridevi after her untimely demise in February 2018, Shekhar Kapur had tweeted.
In one of his interviews, Shekhar Kapur had expressed doubts if any other actor in the world could have played the sequence as good as Sridevi did.
Starring Anil Kapoor and Sridevi in the lead roles and Amrish Puri as the antagonist, the Salim-Javed-scripted Mr India is one of the most loved films of the industry.
Trivia: Did you know Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna had turned down the role of Mr India? Also, Sridevi was paid Rs 11 lakhs for the film, the highest-ever amount paid to a woman actor at that point of time.
Read Also: 7 lesser-known facts about Charlie Chaplin
