Gopal Bedi, famously known as Ranjeet, forayed into Bollywood with the film Sawan Bhadon in 1970, and soon became famous for his iconic villainous roles in films like Farebi, Nagin, Amar Akbar Anthony, Naya Daur, Suhaag, Rocky, Sarfarosh and the Housefull franchise, among others. His villainous portrayals earned him the notorious nickname Ranjeet – The Rapist, as he often played characters involved in molestation scenes. Despite his success, Ranjeet personally felt frustrated with being typecast.
In a recent conversation with Bharathi S Pradhan for Leheren Retro, the veteran actor revealed that there was a time when he had around 80 films simultaneously in production. Some films offered him meaty roles, while others had minor appearances. He shared that many of his scenes involved molestation or pulling the saris of heroines. Ranjeet recalled that in one film, he pulled Moushumi Chatterjee’s black sari, and they could use the leftover footage in the next film. “I was once fed up doing the same thing. I asked myself
that for whom do I work so much. My mother had come to visit me. When she had to go back, I asked my driver to drop her to the airport. My father yelled at me and said that they don’t shift to Bombay because I don’t have time," he shared.
He revealed that his schedule became hectic due to the lack of punctuality among the “heroes" of the films he worked on. He shared how it became a tedious task for him to adjust with their erratic schedules. “I always honour my commitment. But all the heroes, they used to have late night drinking, while heroine was somewhere around like Reena Roy making parathas, Parveen Babi giving drinks, Moushami used to make fish. So, these actors used to pack up, come to my house and party. Meanwhile, I used to work day and night because I had to adjust my dates with all these actors. For the 9 am shift, they would come at 1 pm. So I started working in shifts."
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