This dwarf avatar of Johnny Lever will leave you speechless

Shah Rukh Khan’s dwarf avatar in Aanand L Rai’s Zero has become the talk of the town ever since its sneak-peek was revealed yesterday. It instantly brought back memories of actors who played dwarf characters in recent past — Kamal Haasan in Appu Raja (1989) and Anupam Kher in Jaan-E-Mann (2006). 

But not many would remember that Johnny Lever too once played a dwarf in a film. It was in Indra Kumar’s 2001 film Aashiq, starring Bobby Deol and Karisma Kapoor. 

But Lever’s dwarf characterization is quite unusual, to say the least. His character is normal heighted, but becomes a dwarf only before the climax.  

Confused? Well, this is how it goes. Lever played a character that provides comic relief. During a scene in the first half, his character gets married in a ceremony. Just after the rituals are completed, Mukesh Rishi, who plays a negative character, falls on Lever’s wife after being pushed from a building. The result is that the woman becomes a dwarf! Yes, you heard it right. 

Later, during a sequence, Lever lifts Rishi through a crane. He threatens to finish him off if he doesn’t help his wife regain her original height. He is unable to do it but he falls on Lever thereby making him a dwarf! The married couple is now happy to be of the same height, and celebrate by dancing to ‘Pyar Ki Kashti Mein’ from Kaho Na... Pyar Hai (2000). 

Mainstream Hindi cinema is a treasure trove of such gems. Maybe we have a lot to teach the world.