Three friends and one dream

Even as adolescents, they dreamed of being actors. Aalim Hakim, Paritosh Painter and Parag Desai — friends for 25 years — pursued their acting dreams throughout their years at Mumbai’s Mithibai College. The three were an integral part of the Mithibai Drama team.
From running backstage chores to cleaning the floors of the drama hall to staging several amateur plays, these three did it all for the love of the arc lights.Of course, destiny changed the course of their dreams.
Aalim lost his dad — the famous Hakim who gave Amitabh Bachchan his Zanjeer hairstyle —very early in life. He also gave up his dreams of being an actor to fill in his dad’s very large shoes.
Paritosh Painter continues to direct, write films (Dhamaal, All the Best) and successful plays.
And Parag realised that he was better behind the screen than in front of it... so he floated his own film PR agency.
Aalim, Parag and Paritosh continue to remain best friends going on family holidays together and even acting in movies. While Parag has done a cameo in Golmaal-3 earlier, this time Rohit Shetty got him and Aalim to do a very funny scene as tharkis (decadent guys) in Bol Bachchanwith Archana Puran Singh.
Says Parag, “We did it for a lark and we have to thank Rohit because we had a whale of a time.”
Aalim says, “When we were in our 20s both of us had a healthy mop of hair. Today I’m bald and Parag losing hair too. That apart, we were not in the least bit conscious while attempting our two-minute roles.”