Many Bollywood actors who started their journey in the film industry with side roles or heroes, later gained fame for their villainous avatars. One such actor, who became a top villain in Bollywood, was thrown out of his house, called a rapist.
The actor we are talking about was expelled from Indian Airforce training after which he decided to try his luck in acting and became the top villain of the 70s and 80s. He is none other than Gopal Bedi aka Ranjeet.
Ranjeet, born Gopal Singh Bedi in a small town in Amritsar. He studied in the science stream and graduated from Hindu College in Delhi. Ranjeet wanted to join the Indian Air Force. He sat for the entrance examination for the Indian Air Force (IAF) on a whim and made it through. While doing his IAF training in Coimbatore, he got into trouble with his instructor. “He thought I was maaroing line on his daughter, so he hurled abuses at me and threatened me by saying he would ruin my career,” remembered Ranjeet. “So I gave it back to him.” Shortly after, he was discharged from the IAF.
He then decided to try his luck in films and started his Bollywood journey in the film Saawan Badhoo where he played the role of a brother. The film became a super hit and after this, Sunil Dutt recommended his name for the movie Sharmeelee in a negative role and this made him a star.
He went on to star in several movies like Hulchul, Laila Majnu, Nagin, Amar Akbar Anthony, Naya Daur, Qaidi, and more. He became the top villain of the 80s and 90s. In his career he worked in over 200 films and in 2019, he left films.
However, playing a villain in the movies also impacted his real life. He once recalled how he was thrown out of his house after he played the villain in Sharmeelee. He said, “When I did my first grey character in Sharmeelee, I was thrown out of my house. I come from a very orthodox family. They (parents) thought I got into some stupid profession where I hurt girls and abused them (chuckles). While I played this crude man on screen, after the shot, we all used to make fun of it."
He also recalled how people judged him when he went on a dinner with her daughter. However, now, he is away from the industry and living a retired life and has taken up farming on his terrace garden where he grows vegetables like red bhindi, broccoli, cucumber and bitter gourd.
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