Bollywood has changed a lot in the past decade, and yet it is going through the same circle. With the changing audience tastes, action movies are back in style, and every actor worth his or her salt is getting back to action. It all started with Salman Khan’s Wanted, which he followed with Dabangg. At the same time, Ajay Devgn came up with Singham and now John Abraham is getting along with Force. Now, there are three more action movies in the offing, Salman Khan’s Dabangg 2 and Wanted, then hi Ek tha Tiger and Sher Khan, and Akshay Kumar’s Rowdy Rathore.  Now, stylized action is the name of the game. However, there was a time when action did not mean six packs, and men did not know what waxing their chests was! We look at the top five action heroes before Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty came into the fray.

1. Dara Singh:

Dara Singh is the first and only action hero in Bollywood who actually has a wrestling background. He was an action hero when the action scenes were actual wrestling sequences between the hero and the villain. Most of the movies during Dara Singh’s time were set in the medieval and rural land, so there were not many chances of sci fi.

Though Dara Singh did a lot of movies in Bollywood as well as for Punjab, he is most well known for his role of Hanuman in the television serial Ramayan. At that time, when prosthetics and other type of makeup were not so prominent, he was the only person in the whole film industry who could have played the role of Hanuman in Ramayan. And that, my dear friends, is a telling tale of India’s first He Man, Dara Singh.
He is also well known for playing Amitabh’s father in Mard, where he plays an old king who is a revolutionary against the British system. It were roles like these that made Dara Singh the macho man that he was, and he is still active in the television circuit as judge. His last role was in Jab We Met, where he played Kareena Kapoor’s grandfather.

2. Sunil Dutt:

Most people would remember Sunil Dutt as the lovable, disciplinarian papa in Munna Bhai or even the urban hero in many a movies that he did in the seventies and the sixties. However, Sunil Dutt has his pack of movies where he played the brawny and strong dacoit or action hero, who would lay the evil villains to waste.
What worked best for Sunil Dutt was the furrowing brow and the dark, menacing look that he had perfected in his time, shades of which can today be seen in his son’s, Sanjay Dutt’s eyes.  Even after his son became an actor in his own right, Sunil Dutt played the elder generation of action with quiet elan, especially in movies like Parampara, where he was paired with his son Sanjay Dutt, but they did not have any scenes together, before Munnabhai MBBS.

3. Dharmendra:

Before there was Sunny Deol, there was Dharmendra. Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol have more or less written the history of Bollywood action cinema between them. Dharmendra brought action to the fore and is said to have one of the finest physiques in the film industry during his roles in movies like Sholay, Ram Balram, etc.
Dharmendra has been in the film industry since more than forty years now, and has played all kinds of roles, right from protagonist, second hero, first hero, supporting roles, and even roles of fathers and grandfathers. While most would consider his role in Sholay to be the most memorable, he has worked in what would be called different cinema in movies like Satyakam. He also had a great cameo in the movie Johnny Gaddar, where he played Neil Nitin Mukesh’s mentor.

4. Sunny Deol:

No list about action in Bollywood can be complete without Sunny Deol. Dharmendra’s son, Sunny Deol roared onto the box office with the debut movie Sunny, and went on to make several action romance movies which were staple of the trade back in the eighties. However, he changed the way people looked at action cinema with Ghayal, for which he won the National Award and several Film Fare awards. Sunny Deol’s career was never the same, and till date is considered to be one of the finest action heroes in Bollywood.
Sunny Deol acted in several action movies in the eighties and the nineties, and went on to bring stylished action movies to the fore in the double ohs.  He acted in some intense movies like Ghatak, Ziddi and Arjun Pandit. He also acted in some patriotic movies like Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, which was one of the India’s most successful movies before movies like Ghajini made the rounds.

His role was also critically acclaimed in the family starring movie Apne, where Dharmendra, Bobby Deol and Dharmendra shared screen space for the first time, and then went on to act in Yamla Pagla Deewana, which was one of the biggest successes of 2010. The three will now be seen in a Yamla Pagla Deewana sequel, where Sunny Deol is busy acting in the Ghayal sequel, titled Ghayal Returns. Vidya Balan was already been signed up as the female lead for the movie Ghayal Returns.

5. Sanjay Dutt:

Granted that Sanjay Dutt nowadays does comedy roles, but there was a time when Sanjay Dutt was one of the most brutal action heroes in Bollywood. He also played quasi gray characters, and was the first to play an out and out gray character in Khalnayak. The only issue was that Khalnayak was so much of a pulp movie that it did not make a mark on the classes. Sanjay Dutt is known for his action movies like Khalnayak, Aatish, Sadak, etc. He is also known for creating hair styles and a regeneration of gyms with his physique in movies like Aatish and Sadak.

Today Sanjay Dutt has changed a bit of his acting tone and has gone ahead with comedy movies. His last out and out action movie was Musafir and Tathastu. In Musafir, he played a gray character of a Don who was after Anil Kapoor’s character’s life. In Tathasthu, he played the role of a father whose son was refused admission in an hospital, and therefore was forced to take the entire hospital hostage. He also played the main role in Payback, which was loosely inspired from a Colin Farrel movie, where Sanjay Dutt took a businessman hostage in a phone booth. All of these movies did not make an impact on the silver screen. His last movie was Chatur Singh Two Star, which did not do well at the box office. He will now be seen in a cameo in the Shah Rukh Khan movie Ra. One, and will also be seen in the role of Kaancha Cheena in the 2012 remake of the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Agneepath.

Bonus:

Amitabh Bachchan :
When a man gets actor of the century when he is still alive, there is something unique in him. Amitabh Bachchan, who first made his entry into movies in the seventies has acted in all kinds of movies, but is still most remembered for his action movies, and the angry young man image. He acted with Dharmendra in the unforgettable Sholay, and then went on to act in several action movies like Kaalia, Shahenshah, Desh Premee, Toofan, Ajooba, etc. He was also one of the first action heroes to play superhero characters in Toofan and Ajooba.
The reason that Amitabh Bachchan is a bonus in the list is because he is the evergreen character. Even though he is pushing seventy, he recently acted in an out and out action movie, Bbudhah Hoga Tera Baap.  His last full-fledged action movie was Ek Ajnabee, followed by Khakhee, where he had some scintillating action sequences with younger heroes like Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn.

Amitabh Bachchan is still very much active in the film industry and plays all kinds of roles. His last starring role was in Aarakshan, wher he played the role of a disciplined principal of a university, who provided spiritual support to the reservation quota in India. He is also one of the first actors who have tasted success in television with Kaun Banega Crorepati, an Indian version of who wants to become a millionaire, which is also one of the most successful and famous quiz shows in modern India.
These are the top five action heroes in Bollywood cinema before Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty. Think we forgot some of them? Tell us all about it in the comments section below!

• Cast: Jimmy Shergill as Saheb, Mahie Gill as Biwi, Randeep Hooda as Babloo the Gangster, Vipin Sharma as Gainda Singh, Deepal Shaw as Bijli, and others.
• Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
• Producer: Rahul Mitra & Tigmanshu Dhulia
• Music Director: Abhishek Ray, Ankit Tiwari, Anuj Garg, Amit Sail, Jaidev Kumar, Mukhtar Sahota & Sunil Bhatia
• Lyrics: Sandeep Nath & Baboo Mann
• Screenplay: Tigmanshu Dhulia & Sanjay Chouhan
• Cinematographer: Aseem Mishra
• Editor: Rahul Srivastav
• Banner: Brandsmith Motion Pictures, Bohra Bros & Tigmanshu Dhulia Films

Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia, who has directed much admired movie Haasil, is all set for his forthcoming dirty action cum adventure movie, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster. The show, which adjoins to an astonishing similarity to the yesteryears hit Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, has an exciting lift-off tag line ‘A Royal Threesome’.
Based in a small city in the Northern part of India, Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster is a tale filled with conspiracy of disloyalty and objectives among a stunning Begum, her aggressive Nawab husband and a hard-hearted youthful man.
The Nawab and his Begum, resides in their inherited imperial palace, making an effort to preserve the position and formation their ancestors had left at the back. Although due to the shifting time, a few severe economic situations and the long left practice of a majestic having a mistress, the Nawab attempts a valid hard to preserve his position and economic situations.

His opponent political party, belonging to Gainda Singh is on a steady assignment to get rid of the Nawab and his supporters, just to catch a grasp of the organization, which has been in the company of this imperial family for decades. To this, ultimately Nawab leaves in the company of only one servant, Kanahiya, who is Saheb’s most trustworthy and hazardous servant.
Due to the Nawab’s curiosity in his gorgeous mistress, his Begum experiences badly from the need of his interest and attempts to place every small piece of her effort into attaining him to arrive back to her or even pay out a second of his time in the company of her.
On the other hand, the Nawab begins captivating contract murdering tasks to be clever to manage up in the company of his standard of living and to be capable to acquire a stronger grasp over his political state of affairs at the same time as stirring up for the voting, which turns out to be a tricky combat bearing in mind the defeat of his supporters and weakening economic state of affairs.

The real excitement in the storyline marches in once the identical competitor team fix Babloo, to acquire information and plan the Nawab’s murder, as the impermanent driver for Begum as her long-standing driver meets in the company of an accident, which was as well planned by the similar panel.
Begum experiencing from the need of her husband’s interest and to some extent panic-stricken due to the same, digs up into a kind of sexual connection in the company of this youthful driver Babloo, who was looking like to be giving extra of his time to her.
In this course, Babblo falls profoundly in love in the company of the Begum and lands up admitting of his relationship and intensions with Begum in front of the Nawab. This is precisely the point where the complete drama linking the Sahib, his Biwi and Babloo the gangster sets in motion.
The fairy-tale is packed with twists and turns as Biwi exploits Babblo to contract the mistress killed to get back the missing interest from her spouse. Babloo manages to accomplish her demand but in turn gets ruthless and desires the begum for him and also the authority which Saheb currently grasps after he eliminates Nawab’s rival Gainda Singh.
Lot of controversies are doing rounds before the release of this movie, such as Mahie’s extreme bold act in the movie, Randeep Hooda and Mahie’s leaked kissing scene, Neetu Chandra apparently is miffed due to her alleged boyfriend Randeep’s multiple kissing and bold scenes in the movie, and so on.
The movie is all set to be release it from September 30, 2011. Check out Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster trailer here and also keep posted for the Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster review in the coming weeks.

While controversy is doing rounds that real marriage rituals were performed by John Abraham and Genelia D'Souza while filming a scene for Force, the actors are busy promoting their action thriller. Sreya Basu catches up with the duo in Ahmedabad

Force is the first full-fledged solo action film for both of you. How will you tag the movie?
John: It is an action film, where romance is very strong. Apparently, from the promos you think it’s an action film. But when you come out of the theatre after watching the film, the only thing that stays with you is the romance part.

The last film you saw like this was Aamir Khan’s Ghajini (2008). After that, you will see Force where action is supplemented with strong elements of romance.

Genelia: The beauty of the film is it is as commercial as it can get, and at the same time it’s really real. So Force is a perfect blend of commercial and realistic cinema.

The film is a remake of 2003 Tamil film Kaakha Kaakha?
John: Yes it is. The Tamil one was a hugely successful one and we all will be happy if our film runs well too.

This is the first time we see John and Genelia together on screen. Tell us about your chemistry.
Genelia: Our chemistry is great.

John: Genelia and I are very close friends. So there is a comfort level and things are much easier. Hope we get chance to work together in more projects in future and get a chance to portray our romance on- screen, not off-screen.

John is more known for his toned-body look. But you seem to have worked hard to get those eight-packs…
John: I play ACP Yashvardhan. He is a narcotics bureau officer. He is a no nonsense cop who doesn’t believe in love till Maya (Genelia) comes to his life. How his life changes after that is what the film is all about.

We worked a lot on the character. I did research on Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), drugs, suppliers and handlers. After thorough research, we designed a cop like ACP Yashvardhan.

The topping on the character was his body. We tried to get a new type of body for him. I worked for eight months on my body to get what you are seeing finally on the posters and promos.

How different is Force from Dhoom (2004), which too was an action film, but a multi-starrer?
John: Well, Dhoom was a stylized action film, Force is a real, raw action film. I have never done raw actions so far. After Dhoom, a lot of people asked me why haven’t I attempted action again.

With the physicality I have, people said I should have done more action films. But I matured over a period of time and now I am ready for action. Bodily and mentally, I am much more a matured person now, and ready to take the role of Action Abraham and be the action hero of the country.

Were the stunts difficult for you?
John: Force doesn’t have any unreal action sequences…yet they are all very entertaining and commercial. Generally with technology progressing so much, we use cables for stunts.

But in this film, be it me or the villain Vidyut (Jamwal) or others, we mostly didn’t use cables and kept it real in real locations.

That’s why I sustained quite a few injuries during shooting. My bones broke, I fell from great heights, but after we saw the film, I was satisfied that everything looked real.

Which is your most favourite stunt in Force?
John: There is a scene where I pick up a motorcycle and throw away. At that time my weight was around 100 kilos. And if the motorcycle weighed 115-120 kilos, it was like doing pull-ups. The stunt was not difficult, but looks good on screen.

How much do you think Force can pull the crowd, especially with so many action films releasing in recent times?
John: The last real action film you saw was Sunny Deol’s Ghayal (1990). Force is a real action film and the crowd will love it. As for the commercial side, all action films are doing well. So we are on the safe side. There is no competition…and no point in comparing with Ajay (Devgan) or Salman (Khan).