Once an actor, always an actor.
Actors hardly ever retire. They turn to direction, start blogging fervently, and even take up the quirkiest of character roles — until the offers keep trickling in. And even when they do dramatically say goodbye, they do come back for more. The lure of the arclights is strong indeed. Here are some current comebacks we treasure:
Mickey Rourke
The quintessential underdog, Rourke blazed into cult success as an actor before giving it all up and heading back to the boxing ring in the early 90s. He battled bravely, giving up movies like Pulp Fiction on the way, but now he’s back after his scenestealing turn in Sin City and his extraordinary Oscar-nominated performance in The Wrestler.
Rishi Kapoor
While we were busy not noticing — or distracted by his son Ranbir wooing increasingly attractive women — Kapoor strode into the character actor arena and did rather impressively for himself. It started with one-off roles, largely as indulgent drunken dads, but this year he’s been very, very good in both Luck By Chance and Delhi 6.
Alec Baldwin
Who would have thought that the ruthless executive from Glengarry Glen Ross would turn out to his the peak of his career with a sitcom that started when he was touching 50? Yet it is his turn as ingenious and scruple-free boss Jack Donaghy in Tina Fey’s wickedly funny NBC show 30 Rock that sees Baldwin back on top.
Dimple Kapadia
Even though Dimple never completely gave up the screen, it was tragic to see her wasted in inconsequential roles. Farhan Akhtar was the first to rekindle the flame with Dil Chahta Hai, after which came Pyaar Mein Twist and Being Cyrus, both roles that allowed Kapadia to push herself. And after her smashing job in Luck By Chance, one just wants more of her.
Marisa Tomei
So freaked out was Tomei by her Best Supporting Actress win at the Oscars for her hilarious performance in My Cousin Vinny (one of her earliest films) that she tried hard to keep a lower Hollywood profile till she ‘figured it out.’ She did very well in 2001′s In The Bedroom, but was wasted in a string of bad roles till 2007s Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead and last year’s The Wrestler. She’s back for sure, and striking as ever.
Mithun Chakraborty
Even as Hindi cinema relegated Mithunda to the backseat, the all-dancing all-kicking hero continued to do quality work in regional cinema (while churning out his unwatchable blockbusters in Hindi), winning three National Awards over the years. Now, after Mani Ratnam’s Guru, Mithun has been consistently looked on as a strong character actor with roles in prominent films like Yuvvraaj and Chandni Chowk To China. Mithunda might want new reading glasses to help him pick scripts, though.
Sylvester Stallone
The Italian Stallion had a relatively ignominous run through the late 90s, with nothing really of credit in the early 2000s as well. It was only fitting, therefore, that he constructed his own comeback with the character that brought him to the fore in the first place. Rocky Balboa was a knockout film, and since then Stallone’s back in the limelight, with a Rambo movie and lots more to come. For starters, we’ll see him this May with Akshay Kumar in Kambakkht Ishq.
Dharmendra
The Sholay leading man never quite managed the longevity of his supporting actor buddy, but there has always been talent waiting to be tapped in Dharampaaji, and 2007 was a landmark year for him with films like Life In A Metro, Apne and Johnny Gaddaar. Like he said in Sriram Raghavan’s pacy flick, ‘It’s not the age, it’s the mileage.’
David Duchovny
Duchovny’s been around for a while now, a solid actor performing reliably, but despite roles in movies like Zoolander, Area 51 and Kalifornia, he’s only really known for his work as Agent Fox Mulder in The X-Files. Until now, that is. Duchovny’s back and edgier than ever in the new, steamy, wildly funny Showtime series, Californication. And man, it’s good to see him have this much fun.
Waheeda Rehman
Lets give the credit for this one to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Actually first came Yash Chopra, who did wonderfully to give the luminous legend great roles in Chandni and Lamhe. And more recently Mehra did wonderfully by casting the actress in Rang De Basanti and Delhi 6, both of which she solidified with her mere presence. Amazing to have you back, ma’am.
Source: Rediff
