Car spotting in Bollywood!

Bollywood is no stranger to good looking, fancy wheels. From Amitabh Bachchan taking a Porsche 911 for a spin in Shaan to Shah Rukh Khan zooming around in a Lamborghini in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, we’ve seen it all. Samata Joshi lists a few iconic films that could well have had a red carpet for the wheels that featured in them...

Shaan
When Bindiya Goswami climbs out of a stolen Porsche 911 and walks across the road towards Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor — while the former can’t keep his eyes off the sleek four-wheeler, the latter keeps his eyes steady on Bindiya! The Big B, in the film, obviously floored by the car, buys it off Bindiya with a rookie deal and speeds away with his partner in crime. Just when he’s singing praises of the car’s pick up they’re stopped by a cop, to be arrested on the grounds of theft! Guess who stole the car in the first place!

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
One of the most successful films of the 1990s, it continues to run house-full at  Maratha Mandir even today. The film had a scene where Shah Rukh Khan wakes up in horror to realise that he’s late for his own graduation. He puts on his graduation robes and hops into his Lamborghini to get to the ceremony only to find out that the first student to fail in the history of the university, is him. Many might have missed the luxury sports car’s presence in the film because it was on the screen for all of a few seconds. But when you put Shah Rukh Khan in a Lamborghini, who’s complaining?

Dhoom
Remember how John Abraham’s swaying locks made every girl’s heart race with joy? And that’s exactly why his introduction in the film, Dhoom, was such a success. The scene shows John racing away from the police after a robbery on a Hayabusa. He takes off his helmet, his hair flowing with the wind and throws his helmet at the tyres of the police jeep to make it go turtle. And speeds away after his “Nitro boost” push on the Hayabusa, smiling
triumphantly. Don’t you just miss those windy days?

Golmaal series
Actor Ajay Devgn made his debut in 1991 in style. Phool Aur Kaante saw the actor arrive astride, not one, but two motorbikes. And no, he’s not sitting , he is standing on them, balancing himself to make a memorable entry into Bollywood. Seventeen years later, Ajay made another grand entry in the second installment of the Golmaal film series, standing on two Hummers! And in Golmaal 3, he balanced himself on two bright vintage cars. We can only sit tight in hope that in Golmaal 4, which releases next year, Ajay arrives on another pair of hot wheels.

Race
In a star cast boasting of three beautiful and sexy actresses; Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy, with three equally talented actors; Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna and Anil Kapoor in the 2008 release, Race, one can’t possibly ask for more. Directed by Abbas-Mustan, who are known for thrillers and heavily-loaded action films, Race saw swanky cars like the BMW 6 series, the Mercedes SLK, Toyota Supra as well as the Nissan Skyline (R34) among many others. The famous climax scene with Saif and Akshaye at loggerheads, racing their cars was a car lovers’ dream.