Tracing Chunky Panday's nearly 4-decade long experimental journey as an actor

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 businessA heroic startChunky Panday made his debut in the 1987 multistarrer film Aag Hi Aag opposite Neelam Kothari and followed it up with the successful multihero film Paap Ki Duniya in 1988 His first two films were backed by Pahlaj Nihalani In the beginning of his career he worked in several multihero films including Tezaab where he essayed the role of Anil Kapoors friend BabbanWhile Chunky started off as a lead actor with his face getting a prominent space in the posters back in the 80s and 90s he soon started getting roles that were second fiddle to the protagonistThe 90s and joining Bangladeshi cinemaThe 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 Pandey did not see himself getting slotted in either of the categories Adding to this by the latter half of the 90s solo hero films became a trend leaving little to no space for multihero filmsIn an interview with Hindustan Times talking about the slump he faced in the 90s Chunky said Failure is quite easy to handle because no one is looking at you Success is difficult to keep and not everyone could handle it I could not keep my success I had such a great run By 9394 it all came to an end and I had to go to Bangladesh and work there Talent will always want to workHe acted in six films between 1995 and 1997 as hero in Bangladesh and all of them were successful Between 1997 and 2002 he received minimal work in Bollywood playing supporting roles in lowbudget films like Tirchhi Topiwale Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan Kaun Rokega Mujhe and JwalamukhiDespite 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 shouldnrsquot You are the creator of your success and failurerdquo he saidThe return to BollywoodChunky made a proper return to the industry in 2023 and started from scratch He had said in the interview that there two two generations who had completely forgotten him and this realisation donned on him when a kid came up to him and asked his name The actor decided to do films that will win over the younger audienceIn 2003 supporting roles in Qayamat City Under Threat Elaan Don The Chase Begins Again and Apna Sapna Money Money In 2010 he first played the role of Aakhri Pasta in the film Housefull which was a multistarrer with the likes of Akshay Kumar Deepika Padukone Riteish Deshmukh Arjun Rampal and Lara Dutta in the lead In the following sequels of the franchise while several actors were replaces Chunkys role was retained owing to his popularityChunky also ensured that his second stint in Bollywood did not restrict him to just doing comic roles It is very easy among actors to get stereotypes and with Aakhri Pasta gaining popularity there was high chances of him getting typecast However in 2017 when he played a crude villain in Begum Jaan it opened a new avenue for the actor He then played negative roles in Prassthanam Saaho and web series Abhay