Ever seen a film that was so bad that it turned out to be good, prompting you to keep going back to it time and again? Chances are that it was a Kanti Shah film. Kanti, who? The master of C-grade Bolly fare of the ’80s and ’90s whose films — being repeatedly watched on YouTube, being dowloaded regularly and even recording DVD sales — have acquired a cult following.

Who is Kanti Shah?

His Facebook fan page describes him as: “Kanti Shah is a director and producer of B-grade, C-grade and Z-grade Hindi movies. He is best known for the direction of the ‘so bad it’s good’ cult film Gunda in 1998.” The king of crass was most active during the ’80s and ’90s, churning out at least a film a year. Most of his films starred his wife Sapna Tanveer.

What are his films about?

Boasting no plot as such, most Kanti Shah films are powered by the twin engines of slam and sleaze. Songs pop up just like that, the screenplay is most often thrown out of the window and characters walk in and out at random. Cheap production values, cheesy dialogues and over-the-top acting define a Kanti Shah film.

The most distinguishing factor of a Kanti Shah film is its title — from Fauji Fauj Mein Padosi Mauj Mein to Basanti Ki Shaadi Honeymoon Gabbar Ka and from Phoolan Hasina Ramkali to Padosan Jawaan Patni Pareshaan.

The most famous Kanti Shah film is Gunda. Released in 1998 and starring Mithun Chakraborty, Shakti Kapoor and Mukesh Rishi, the film has now acquired cult status. The revenge saga, made on a budget of less than Rs 20 lakh, notched up in excess of Rs 3 crore at the box office. Today, it is a DVD and YouTube hit.

Various factors have gone into making Gunda the hit that it is. The combination of action and comedy — there is everything from fighting with bare hands to firing rocket launchers. The climax is iconic — cots are shown hanging from the roof at several heights with Mithun’s Shankar piledriving goons into them one by one, while prostitutes swing on the cots and egg him on!

The names of the characters is also a pull point — from Harish Patel’s Ibu Hatela to Ishrat Ali’s Lambu Atta to Bachubhai Bhigona, played by Deepak Shirke. The pick of the lot? Shakti Kapoor’s C****ya.

The dialogues are one-of-a-kind, mostly delivered in rhyming couplets. The most memorable (or cringe-worthy, depending on which side of the Kanti Shah divide you are on) are the characters’ introductory lines: “Mera naam hai C****ya, achhon achhon ki main khadi karta hoon khatiya”; “Mera naam hai Ibu Hatela, Maa meri chudail ki beti, Baap mera shaitan ka chela, khayega kela?”; “Mera naam hai Bulla, rakhta hoon main khulla!”

Besides Gunda, Mithun has acted in two other Kanti Shah films — Loha and Rangbaaz. Dharmendra played a pivotal role in Loha.

Not as prolific in recent years, Shah came out of semi-retirement recently to film Rape, inspired by the Shiney Ahuja case.

Where can you watch them?

Some footpath stores have Kanti Shah DVDs. Movie channels on television don’t air them during primetime, but more often than not, you can catch a Kanti Shah film or two late into the night on your local channel. Otherwise, downloading them is your best bet.

fan speak

PUSHKAR BENDRE, IT professional

The best thing about Kanti Shah’s films is that they are so random. It is the randomness that contributes to the fun factor. There will be two people fighting in a scene and suddenly a bikini-clad woman with no connection to the film or the characters will emerge out of a swimming pool and then vanish!

Although they have no plot as such, you will never get bored in a Kanti Shah film because it’s so fast-paced. It’s a different kind of cinema… an acquired taste. Once you are hooked, there’s no looking back.

It’s more fun to watch these films together in a huge group. I remember watching a Kanti Shah film in a group that comprised 40 boys and about six or seven girls. By the third rape scene, the audience was all-boys!

I have watched Gunda, Loha, Free Entry, Zaroorat, Garam…. I have been trying to get hold of the film called Rape. But Gunda definitely has to be the most famous. The film’s dialogues and clips are all over the Internet. Even blogs are dedicated to it!

SUSHOVAN SIRCAR, student

Kanti Shah films are so bad that they are good! They are unapologetic with no pretence of being classy. Kanti Shah is confident of his art and has the guts and confidence to make films of this kind. How many directors of his kind can sell a film on the basis of their names, like Kanti Shah Ke Angoor?! He has a certain kind of people he delivers to and they love his films. I have seen Gunda and Loha and I loved both of them. In Gunda, all the characters spoke in rhymes and it was hilarious!