QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD
Qamyab is our humble tribute to all those lesser-known actors, one hit wonders and junior artists who we see umpteen times but don’t know about; beyond their faces. These actors have been an integral part of Bollywood but didn’t get their due. This series is our sincere attempt to put a name to these faces, familiarize them to our readers and celebrate their achievements in life – however big or small. We believe that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success. Qamyab will explore the unknown lives of such actors and artists as we believe even these forgotten gems of Bollywood deserve their due recognition today.
A successful acting career in Bollywood is never a cake walk but filled with its own share of hurdles and struggle. Even established actors after enduring years of struggle, find it hard to sustain and survive in this cut throat industry.
In fact sometimes, survival is more difficult than struggle here. One of the biggest struggles faced by an actor in Bollywood is of superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Initially, his career was in doldrums until Zanjeer (1973) changed everything and made him the superstar of the millennium.
Another classic example of big struggle was Mithun Chakraborty, who also faced lot of setbacks in his early career despite being a National Award winner. He was out of work for quite some time before Disco Dancer (1982) happened to him!!
Both these superstars went through a lot of struggles and faced a subsequent downfall in their career, but they invariably bounced back successfully and are surviving in Bollywood even today.
Our today’s forgotten gem also faced big struggle for almost twenty years until he got noticed for his talent. He is Narendra Jha. Many readers might not know him by his name but he was a very common face in the past decade and did lot many power-packed roles like the main villain in Ghayal Once Again (2016).
Narendra Jha was born in on 21st October, 1962 in Koilakh – Madhubani, a small village in Bihar which has his own tradition of theatre since the last hundred years. His father and brother were regular participants in village plays and this is where Narendra developed his passion for acting as a child.
Narendra was well educated having done his Masters in History. His father wanted him to be an IAS officer but later, noticing his talent and dedication, encouraged him to be an actor. Narendra Jha then enrolled himself in Diploma course of acting at Shri Ram Centre.
After completing his diploma, Narendra left for Mumbai to try his luck in films. He had a good personality and his physique matched up to be a younger version of Vinod Khanna. Though he was good looking and talented, his real journey of struggle and survival started now.
Narendra Jha took up modelling in his early days and got a lot of offers due to his macho personality. He went on to work in more than hundred ad films. During this time in 1996, he won the Star Track competition, which was held by ABCL (Amitabh Bachchan Corporate Limited). But the contest win didn’t benefit him on the acting font.
His first stint with acting was the longest running Doordarshan serial Shanti (1994). But today, hardly anyone remembers his character in that serial, which made a star out of Mandira Bedi.
After Shanti, Narendra continued his journey on television and worked for next two decades in notable serials like Captain House (1995), Itihaas (1996), Ek Aur Mahabharat (1997), Jai Hanuman (1997), Thief Of Baghdad (2000), Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2000), Raavan (2006), Choona Hai Aasman (2007), Chehra (2009), SuperCops Vs Supervillains (2012), etc.
In 2003, Jha shifted his focus on big screen and finally made his Bollywood debut with the comic caper Fun2ssh, which was based on time travel with a stellar cast comprising Kader Khan, Gulshan Grover, Paresh Rawal, etc. This film clashed with Rajkumar Hirani’s superhit Munnabhai MBBS (2003) but still did decent business at the box office.
Narendra Jha played the character of King Babushah’s (Gulshan Grover) commander, who wants to marry his master’s daughter. This character received appreciation from the audience.
In the next decade, Jha balanced himself between films and TV. He worked in movies like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2004), Chatrapathi (2005), Amrish Puri’s final film Kachchi Sadak (2006), Return Of Hanuman (2007) and the Telugu film Legend (2014). But none of these films elevated his career as they couldn’t perform well or were lesser-known films.
Narendra Jha’s turning point in career came with Vishal Bhardwaj’s critically acclaimed Haider (2014) in which he played the father of Shahid Kapur and Tabu’s husband. His character was of Dr Hilal Meer, who performs surgery on a terrorist on humanity basis during insurgency in Kashmir in 1995. This gets considered as a terrorist act by the Government and he gets arrested. Though a short role, Jha won lot of appreciation for this character. The scene where he exhorts his son Shahid to take revenge on his brother (Kay Kay Menon) for having an affair with his wife became the movie’s highlight.
After Haider’s success, offers started pouring for Narendra Jha. Between 2015 to 2017, he was seen in many big films in power packed roles and most of these films were box office hits. Finally, he was receiving the much deserved accolades for which he had struggled for almost two decades.
Next, Narendra played a pivotal character in Mohit Suri’s Hamari Adhuri Kahaani (2015) as a cop, who tries to warn Vidya Balan about her husband illegal connections.
2016 was a big year for Narendra Jha, where he appeared in brief roles in movies like Mohenjo Daro, Force 2, Shorgul, My Father Iqbal and of course Ghayal Once Again.
Ghayal Once Again was one of his most successful films, which came as a surprise to many. He played the main antagonist in this sequel to Ghayal (1990) and stepped in the shoes of legend Amrish Puri, who was main villain of the first part. Narendra’s character of an arrogant and powerful businessman called Bansal, who is hell bent on protecting his criminal son, received tremendous appreciation from critics and audience alike.
On the other hand, Ashutosh Gowariker’s Mohenjo Daro couldn’t perform well at the box office due to its excessive length and a weak storyline while Force 2 bombed at the box office due to its release during demonetization in India.
2017 again started on a good note for Jha where his two films clashed on the same day – Raaes starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kaabil starring Hrithik Roshan. In Raees, he played a gangster called Musa Bhai and was a corrupt cop called Chaubey in Kaabil. Both these films did well at the box office and Narendra Jha’s performance was again appreciated by everyone.
The same year, Narendra signed one of the biggest films of 2018- Race 3 – starring an ensemble cast comprising Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Bobby Deol, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sharat Saxena, Daisy Shah, etc. He had some other projects as well in the pipeline. Unfortunately, destiny had a cruel plan in store for him.
A hale and hearty Narendra Jha suddenly suffered a heart attack and his doctors advised him to move to his farmhouse in Nashik to relax and recuperate.
Narendra Jha was active on Facebook and would often share his updates and interact with his fans. On 13th March, 2018, he posted a picture stating that he was relaxing at his farmhouse. But the very next day on 14th March, 2018 came the shocking news that Narendra had passed away after suffering a massive heart attack. He was just fifty-five years old when he passed away.
His last released film when alive, was Kaalakandi (2018) released two months before his untimely death.
Jha was shooting for Race 3 in which he had a pivotal role but couldn’t complete the film. He can be seen in just one scene. Surprisingly, the makers of Race 3 didn’t replace him but instead retained his character throughout the movie through a body double whose face is not shown and only speaks on the phone. They also paid a rich tribute to him at the start of the film by inserting a condolence message.
On the personal front, Narendra Jha was married to Pankaja Thakur, who was the former CEO of CBFC (Central Board Film Certification). They got married in 2015.
Narendra Jha is no longer with us but his powerful characters in Haider and Ghayal Once Again will always remain immortal.
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All images courtesy Internet
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