Did you know? Chunky Panday was a big star of Bangladeshi cinema in the 90s

Chunky Panday

Chunky Panday is one of the most popular faces of the Hindi cinema. His career in the film industry began in the later half of 1980s. While the actor might most popularly known as Aakhri Pasta, a character from the 'Housefull' franchise, the actor has had an interesting and experimental journey in the movie business.

Chunky Panday made his debut in the 1987 multi-starrer film Aag Hi Aag' opposite Neelam Kothari and followed it up with the successful multi-hero film 'Paap Ki Duniya' in 1988. However, with time multi-hero films were reduced in number and Panday was forced to play second fiddle in films.

Moreover, the 90s saw the rise of romantic heroes like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and action heroes like Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Ajay Devgn. Panday did not see himself getting slotted in either of the categories.

With less and less interesting roles coming his way, Chunky moved to Bangladesh and tried his luck in the country. Recalling how it happened, Chunky told IANS in an interview in 2018, "I was not getting the kind of work I wanted in Bollywood. A friend of mine forced me to do a film in Bangladesh. The money was good and I was desperately in need of money at that time, so I took the offer. It was a sort of stock gamble for me. But my first film became such a huge hit that I never looked back and worked there for five years until I got married in 1998."

He faced massive success in Bangladesh and in no time became one of the biggest stars of the country and found success and fame.

Despite facing success in Bangladeshi cinema, Chunky Panday came back to India with the thought of reinventing himself. It was his wife Bhavna who encouraged him to return to Indian cinema as that was his identity. "When I came back, I learnt the value of success and learnt to cherish it. I had a game plan in mind, which was not there in the beginning. Maybe I was too young. There is a tendency to blame people, but you shouldn't. You are the creator of your success and failure," he said.

Meanwhile, Indian films have found it tough to release films in Bangladesh as the country did not want big Hindi films to ruin the business of local films. Shah Rukh Khan's 'Pathaan' (2023) was the first Hindi film in 50 years to get a proper release in the country, that is now in turmoil after its PM Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country.