The earliest memory of Ashutosh Rana is from Swaabhimaan. A TV show which narrated the ups and downs of upper-class families and could easily be Doordarshan's version of Gossip Girl. Those were the best days of Indian Television when variety was the key instead of mediocrity. Anyway, Ashutosh Rana played Tyagi in the TV show who was perhaps the only fun character on the show. And then he took a vicious turn, on-screen of course! Akshay Kumar In Laxmmi Bomb Or Ashutosh Rana In Sangharsh: Who Did This Scene Better? Vote Now

Today, Rana is more known for his sinister and deeply disturbing roles in Tanuja Chandra movies like Sangharsh and Dushman. Even Akshay Kumar, who was his co-star in Sangharsh, seems to have paid Rana a tribute by recreating his spine-chilling yell from the film in Laxmii. While the actor's negative roles made him wildly popular and left the 90s kid scared to the core, he has done other characters too which deserve a mention here on his birthday.

Dushman - Gokul Pandit

Ashutosh Rana as the rapist and serial killer can send shivers down anybody's spine. He spelled dread for so many years after watching it. We still wonder how he slipped into the psyche of such a deranged maniac so well.

Sangharsh - Lajja Shankar Pandey

We thought Rana couldn't get anymore darker and then we saw Sangharsh, we weren't the same again. He was extremely scary. It looked as if Preity Zinta wasn't acting, she was actually scared of him.

Raaz - Professor Agni Swaroop

Rana did some positive roles too although he just knocks it out of the park with the villainous turn. In Raaz, he played a professor who tries to help Bipasha chuck a ghost out of her husband's life. He is very supportive but then gets possessed as well.

Mulk - Santosh Anand

You need a strong opposition, the say and after watching Rana in Mulk in this courtroom drama, we know how strong. It was as if he firmly believed in every word he said as a prosecutor even if it boiled our blood. What an actor!

Sonchiriya - Virender Singh Gujjar

One of the most underrated releases of last year, Sonchiriya had Rana play Inspector Gujjar who's main motive is to kill the baaghis (rebels) and get a reward from the government. For that he would do anything and he does it so convincingly that it's easily to hate him more in this movie about all the people from the other side of law.

 

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 10, 2020 08:10 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).