Is Pradeep Rawat, the man who played the main villain in Bollywood’s biggest money spinner ever ‘Ghajini’, finding difficulty in getting plum roles post the film’s release? Well, it seems so because of his striking resemblance with Vipin Sharma, the man who played Darsheel Safary’s dad in ‘Taare Zameen Par’. In a light hearted conversation with Vipin, he made a mention of their similar looks confusing people not just from outside the industry but even within the industry.
Laughs Vipin, “I had never met Pradeep earlier but through some common friends, I finally met him about a week ago. Imagine seeing someone in flesh and blood who just comes across as your mirror image. Of course he has a heavier built than me but still our faces do resemble a lot. He is an amazing guy and we both got along so well right away.”
Vipin immediately sounded Pradeep about the compliments that were coming his way instead post the blockbuster success of ‘Ghajini’.
“Soon after the release of ‘Ghajini’, I started getting emails and messages stating that I did a great job. The moment I realized that it was Pradeep (who had played the part of Deva in ‘Lagaan’) with whom they were mistaking me, I cracked up laughing. I browsed through his other images on the internet and it seemed almost surreal see two people being so similar.”
On hearing this anecdote, Pradeep too started to laugh. “He said in jest that no wonder he was not getting any calls for roles in films because everyone was instead busy complimenting Vipin.”
However, Vipin’s isn’t an isolated case. When ‘Taare Zameen Par’, his first Hindi film, had released a year back, people were busy congratulating Pradeep.
“Call it poetic justice but we both seem to be reveling in each other’s glory”, winks Vipin, “It started happening after the release of ‘Taare Zameen Par’. I would meet people who said that they liked me in ‘Lagaan’ also. When I said that I wasn’t in that film, many thought that I was joking. Some didn’t believe me at all and others were plain confused as they struggled to remember that where had they seen me elsewhere.”
Incidentally Aamir Khan too plays a common element to both the actors. While Vipin made his Bollywood debut with ‘Taare Zameen Par’ (and since then has worked in ‘Jannat’, ‘1920’ and ‘Lamhaa’ – which is currently being shot), Pradeep has been an almost regular with the actor with films like ‘Sarfarosh’, ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Ghajini’. Incidentally, these have been Pradeep’s last three Bollywood films as well and he is yet to sign a new film.
