Top 10 Bollywood screen cops

Salman Khan, Dabangg (2010): Chulbul Pandey isn't just one of Salman Khan's best loved screen roles, he's also top of the cop pops. With his bulging muscles, neat moustache, stylish sunglasses and witty one-liners, the rough and tough Chulbul is everyone's favourite law man.

Amitabh Bachchan, Zanjeer (1973): Inspector Vijay Khanna was Amitabh Bachchan's breakthrough role, the first of many famous Vijays he would play, and marked the rise of the Angry Young Man.

Aamir Khan, Talaash (2012): No stranger to playing intense on-screen, Aamir's realistic and gritty portrayal of Inspector Surjan Shekhawat, a man on a personal and professional quest in Mumbai's underbelly, was a more assured echo of his turn as a policeman in 1999's Sarfarosh.

Ajay Devgn, Singham (2011): A year after Salman blazed across the big screen as Chulbul Pandey, Ajay delivered power-packed action sequences and heavy dialogues as Bajirao Singham, a one man army singlehandedly fighting villains.

Shashi Kapoor, Deewar (1975): Inspector Ravi Verma, asked to hunt down his gangster brother, remains one of Shashi Kapoor's best known mainstream roles, and gave him perhaps the most famous dialogue in the history of evocative Bollywood one-liners: mere paas ma hai (I have our mother).

Abhishek Bachchan, Dhoom (2004): He may not have worn the khaki in Dhoom or Dhoom 2 (2006), but Abhishek's style and attitude as ACP Jai Dixit made him a cop to reckon with.

Nana Patekar, Ab Tak Chhappan (2004): His spine-chilling portrayal of Inspector Sadhu Agashe, an encounter specialist accused of corruption, was an thought-provoking and nunaced examination of deeper issues involving police morality.

Om Puri, Ardh Satya (1983): A National Award speaks best for Om Puri's portrayal of a cop caught between his personal problems and corruption in the police department in this path-breaking, career-making movie.

Akshay Kumar, Khakee (2004): There was indeed life after Khiladi, as Akshay proved in his role as the honest Senior Inspector Shekhar Verma who chooses duty over love and sacrifices his life.

Manoj Bajpayee, Shool (1999): From the golden age of Ram Gopal Varma comes his then-favourite actor Manoj's portrayal of Inspector Samar Pratap Singh who loses everything including his wife and daughter in the line of duty. RGV's writing and Manoj's powerful performance steered the film to a National Award.