Laloo today on the big screen and what did they think of the rumbustious and colourful leader

In Parliament, he may not be politically correct most of the time but not a single MP would deny that RJD leader and Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav is a funhouse. With his rustic humour, ready wit and earthy charm, he would, it must be admitted, make a delightful character for Bollywood. And it took the Bollywood Badshah himself to jokingly offer Laloo a role when the mantriji appeared on Shah Rukh Khan’s game show this week. Happy to steal the limelight, Laloo agreed to play ‘Don’ with SRK by wearing cool spy glasses! Bollywood has called the Bihari babu before, and he did make a brief appearance as himself in the film Padmashri Laloo Prasad Yadav. The point is, BT wanted to know if filmmakers would cast Laloo today on the big screen and what did they think of the rumbustious and colourful leader?

DAVID DHAWAN:

With his sheron-shayari adayaaein, he is just fabulous. He’s extremely real, lively and full of emotion, which the common people would relate to. I would cast him as the central head in a family drama. He’s got a strong screen presence. Laloo is total paisa vasool, not just in films, but even on television.

VIKRAM BHATT:

Laloo is amusing, for sure, but he also comes with a lot of power. He has the ability to be witty, but also commands silence from his detractors where it’s required. I would like to cast him in a Jack Nicolson kind of role like in Witches of Eastwick or About Schmidt. The witty bad guy!

RITUPORNO GHOSH:

There’s a naive, rustic charm about this man who can easily crush all comic characters. He comes across as a sulking, petulant child. There’s also a lot of innocence in his theatrics. He can play a bad character in a good folklore like Panchtantra or Twinkle, the comic book. Those bad persons aren’t really bad or villianish. There’s sweetness to them. He can preach without being preachy because there’s an inherent positivity about him.

IMTIAZ ALI:

I see him as an unconventional philosopher, standing barefeet on the road and talking merrily to people about the stress in their lives. I think he is very deep to allow himself to look funny.

MADHUR BHANDARKAR:

Laloo is an unique hero who the masses and the classes would love alike. Everyone know he can lift up their low spirits and that’s a great quality. I would want to play up his vibrant personality as a narrator who will unfold a socio-political drama in his inimitable style.

MAHESH BHATT:

Laloo’s charisma and rustic magnetism is matchless. It’s not a bad idea to bring him to films. I would cast him as a mentor to the hero. A sage, wise man who’ll guide his prodigy with his wit, humour and realism.