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Bollywood's resident scientists

While we don't have an eclectic collection of quirky, madcap scientists like Dr Strangelove or Dr Evil to boast of, there's a curious enough assortment of serious and silly inventors to look about.

Director Shankar's latest offering, a lavish bilingual project -- Endhiran (Tamil) and Robot (Hindi), features superstar Rajnikanth in a double role. While a great deal of secrecy has been maintained about its plot, buzz is the actor plays a scientist who develops a robot with artificial intelligence capabilities for the greater good of mankind.

Considering the hoopla and excitement surrounding this project from the word go, its big screen outcome is most awaited. Meanwhile, here's a look at the various scienist portrayals in Hindi films.

Naseeruddin Shah, Krrish

As the monopolizing, power-hungry scientist, an unusual loud Naseeruddin Shah, uses another's skills and special gifts to build a clairvoyant computer so that he can control the world.

But when Hrithik Roshan is the superhero of a franchise, evil has no chance at victory.

Shashi Kapoor, Abhinetri

What looks like a technician in a Pathology lab is actually Bollywood's idea of a workaholic assistant scientist played by Shashi Kapoor with oodles of charm alongside Madan Puri's harmlessly quirky superior against a vivacious backdrop of colourful and coordinated bottles of chemicals.

Boman Irani, Love Story 2050

While Harman Baweja's debut in this futuristic romance starring Priyanka Chopra was unanimously declared to be a big-screen disaster, it gave Boman Irani a chance to play a wacky scientist, Uncle Ya who comes up with a sleek device for time-travel and thereby justifying the film's title.

Aamir Khan, 3 Idiots

He's a fun-loving student for the better part of 3 Idiots.

As it turns out, Aamir Khan's also the ingenious scientist Phunsukh Wangdu -- mentioned all through the film -- running an extraordinarily creative school for the children of Ladakh.

Madan Puri, Blackmail

Best known to play cheesy villain roles in potboiler cinema, Madan Puri's also worked well as the focused and jolly professional working on a highly confidential formula, waiting to be nabbed by bad boy Shatrughan Sinha in Vijay Anand's racy entertainer, Blackmail co-starring Dharmendra and Raakhee.

Randhir, Mr X in Bombay

Long before Mr India's daddy left him an invisibility-triggering wrist watch, a bumbling scientist Dr Mathur, played by character actor Randhir, concocts some magical pills which provide the exact same results.

Only this time Kishore Kumar plays the unseen, melody-spewing guinea pig.

Bipasha Basu, Rudraksh

She's a tad too hot and skimpily dressed to pass off as a US-based scientist down in India with her team to explore and experiment on the mystical powers of a psychic healer.

But hey, it's Bollywood, and it's mandatory to pitch in some Bipasha Basu-flavoured glamour.

Shah Rukh Khan, Swades

Unlike the fictitious, far-fetched scientists of Bollywood, Mohan Bhargav is as real as it gets.

SRK, in one of his best acting works, plays a NRI working in NASA who makes a trip back home to convince his erstwhile nanny to join him in the US.

Eventually, he flexes his scientist skills to set up a small-scale power plant in order to provide electricity in the village.

Randhir Kapoor, Action Replayy

The upcoming Akki-Ash starrer Action Replayy, with its psychedelic promos and retro vibe, marks the return of Randhir Kapoor after a considerable gap to play a nutty inventor of a time-machine.