Ye Teja Teja kya hai? Four famous villains named Teja

A hero isn't a hero until he has a villain to be heroic with. Over the decades, villains named Teja have made multiple appearances on screen. You can laugh at a Teja or or hate him, but never really ignore him. As Andaz Apna Apna completes the 20 year milestone, Paresh Rawal's masterful Teja brings to mind those other Tejas made famous by Bollywood.

Paresh Rawal as Teja in Andaz Apna Apna (1994): Paresh Rawal provided endless mirth as the bossy crook plotting to kidnap and take the place of his rich twin. Among his many funny moments in the cult comedy is a scene in which his kidnapped and caged twin offers him the diamonds he wants and sets Teja, real name Shyam Gopal Bajaj, off day-dreaming about going straight with a poultry farm and a bakery:'Bread ka badshah aur omelette ka raja, Bajaj. Hamara Bajaj.'

Teja takes the place of his twin and dresses in an identical suit but the plot thickens when the real Bajaj reverse-pretends to be Teja. 'Teja main hoon, mark idhar hai' and 'Main Teja hoon kyun ki mera naam bhi Teja hai' fly thick and fast. Nobody is surprised when confused master-villain Crimemaster Gogo asks 'Yeh Teja Teja kya hai?'

Ajit as Teja in Zanjeer (1973): The model for future filmy goons, Zanjeer's Teja personified the suave gangleader, soft spoken yet forceful. As memorable as Teja's glistening hair and sinister voice was his moll Mona Darling (played by Bindu), the woman who launched a thousand jokes.

Teja's popular dialogue from Zanjeer - Aao Vijay, baitho aur hamare saath ek scotch piyo, hum tumhe kha thodi jaayenge, vaise bhi hum vegetarian hain - forms a part of Bollywood folklore. Jis tarah kuch aadmiyon ki kamzori baimaani hoti hai, is hi tarah kuch aadmiyo ki kamzori imaandari hoti hai was another famous one as was Achche khareedar hamesha sauda karne se pehle, doosre ki keemat ka andaza lagate hain.

Ajit Vachani as Teja in Mr India (1987): This Teja was evil yet funny as Mogambo's henchman. The scene where Mr India seeks revenge from him for mixing stones in grain by making him eat the rocky mixture brings tears of mirth to our eyes.

In another scene, Teja asks Mr India: Agar tum aam hindustani ho toh dikhayi kyun nahi dete. To which Mr India replies: Kyunki tumhari aankhon mein itna lalach bhara hua hain ki tumhe aaj tak koi aam hindustani dikhayi hi nahi diya toh aaj kya dekhoge?

Prakash Raj as Teja in Zanjeer (2013): This Teja personified the venomous villain to the hilt. In a tribute to the original, the new Teja-Mona pair watch Ajit and Bindu in the original Zanjeer on a DVD with Prakash Raj telling Mahie Gill how he was similar to Ajit.

New Teja says: Chicken and chicks are the two meows of life.