This Subhash Ghai romp wasn't Kapoor's film at all -- he played kid brother to Jackie Shroff and took second place in the film's credits -- but, with typical scenestealing, he made it entirely his own.

Ram Lakhan is the perfect example of the cheesy Bollywood revenge saga, with every element from a widowed mother (and fights over her husband's ashes) to a bizarre villain named Sir John to a central conflict between two brothers, one a criminal, one a crime fighter.

And yet the only reason this film works -- and it absolutely does -- is because of the infectious earnestness Kapoor thrusts into the Lakhan role. It is a role -- crook, flirt, misled youth -- we've seen a million times before and since, but Kapoor's inimitable panache makes sure we remember that Lakhan Is Still His Name.

In the picture: A scene from Ram Lakhan.

Also Read: Where good rules over evil

Back

|

Next