When Chunky Pandey compared his tough times in Bollywood with Amitabh Bachchan. ‘Woh kaam karta nahi, mujhe kaam milta nahi'

Indian Express

29-05-2025

Chunky Pandey, who once captured the industry's attention with his performance in David Dhawan's Aankhen, later faced his fair share of professional setbacks. By the late 1990s, the actor found himself struggling to land substantial roles and eventually transitioned to playing character parts. During this challenging period, Chunky once made a humorous comparison between himself and megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who had taken a hiatus from films at the time, highlighting the stark contrast in their situations. In a resurfaced interview with Lehren, the actor clarified the intent behind the comment: 'Woh kaam karta nahi, mujhe kaam milta nahi. (He doesn't work, I don't get work.)'
In the interview with Lehren, Chunky said, 'Dekho main doosre actors par bohot joke banta hoon toh maine socha ki main aap par bhi joke banao. See, I'm a big fan of Amit ji, I hope he doesn't mind, kyunki maine unke par joke nahi banaya, apne upar banaya. (I make a lot of jokes about other actors, so I thought I'd make one about myself too. I'm a big fan of Amit ji. I hope he doesn't mind because the joke wasn't about him, it was about me.)'
Clarifying further, Chunky explained that it wasn't a complete lack of offers that troubled him, but rather the kind of roles being offered. The actor said, 'Jab main keh raha tha ki mujhe kaam milta nahi, main kehna cha raha tha ki mujhe apne kisim ka kaam nahi milta. Waise mujhe rooz 2 pictures ke offer aate hai lekin woh kisim ki picture main nahi karna chahta hoon. (When I said I don't get work, I meant I don't get the kind of work I want. I get offers for two films every day, but they're not the kind I want to do.)' He added, 'You know, C-grade films jahan producer ka kuch pata nahi hai, director kaun hai aur picture aadhi banegi… kaise banegi… gareebi mein banegi… zabardasti banegi… maine aise 4-5 pictures kar chuka hoon. Main ye mistake nahi karna chahta hoon… I don't want to do this mistake again. (C-grade films where you don't even know who the producer is, the director is unknown, and the film might not even be completed. If it gets made at all, it's made under poor conditions, forcibly. I've done four or five such films already. I don't want to repeat that mistake.)'
Also Read | Chunky Panday on facing financial crisis, and restarting from scratch: 'I didn't have money to buy alcohol for a party
Summing it up, Chunky said, 'So I'm not working because I don't want to work, so I'm in the same position as Amitabh Bachchan.'
In the same interview, Chuky Pandey also addressed the perception that he couldn't act, a tag that had followed him at times early in his career. 'Non-actor toh kabhi kisi ne nahi kaha. Haan, kabhi kabhi maine 32 retake diye… kabhi confusion hua… (No one has ever called me a non-actor. Yes, sometimes I've had to do 32 retakes… sometimes there was confusion…)' He insisted, 'No one has said that Chunky Pandey was bad in their film. Everybody has said he was average, he was good, has improved… he was better.'
Reflecting on his journey, Chunky shared his thoughts on how playing a traditional hero can be limiting compared to character roles. 'Woh kya hota hai when you do a regular hero… there is very little scope. Kyunki hero good good rehta hai, insaaf ke liye ladhta hai, apni maa ke liye ladhta hai, apni behen ke liye ladhta hai… you get stuck in a formula (When you play a regular hero, there's very little scope. The hero is always good, fighting for justice, for his mother, for his sister… you get stuck in a formula),' he said. 'But when you do a character role like I did in Tezaab, Lootere, toh uss mein variations aa jaata hai… ek scope milta hai kuch karne ka. (But when you play character roles like I did in Tezaab and Lootere, it gives you variety—it gives you the scope to do something.)'