Name: Mehmood Ali Age: The count stopped at 72 Nationality: Indian Claim to fame: The king of comedy of Hindi cinema
With his perfect sense of timing, his rib-tickling punch lines, sparkling wit and deliberated accented drawl, Mehmood has undoubtedly been Hindi cinema’s most beloved comedian. He was in fact the first comedian around whom scripts of films were written. He was such a scene-stealer that a time came when his place in movies became more important than that of the lead actor, and heroes were reluctant to share screen space with him!
In the box-office hit Padosan, Mehmood’s portrayal of a South Indian music teacher hired to teach Saira Banu was much acclaimed despite the presence of veterans such as Kishore Kumar, Sunil Dutt and the beautiful Saira Banu. In films like Gumnam, Dil Tera Diwana, Susural and Humjoli, Mehmood’s role and rabble-rousing abilities far exceeded that of leading men like Manoj Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Jeetendra respectively.
Mehmood invented a completely original lexicon of laughter. Most of his comic virtuosity depended on split-second timing and an ability to react a tad late to a situation. What really set Mehmood apart from other popular comedians was the fact that his forte lay in his impeccable acting style that blended humour with human sensitivity — bringing a smile to the lip as easily as a tear to the eye. And an excellent example of how he could make the audience breakdown to tears even with his humour can be seen in Kunwara Baap.
The son of actor-dancer Mumtaz Ali, Mehmood started acting at an early age in small roles. His first major break came in Parvarish in 1958 when he landed a role parallel to Raj Kapoor, but he found his forte as a comedian in Susural. Mehmood first successfully paired with Shubha Khote and later Aruna Irani, and in real life he was first married to Meena Kumari’s sister Madhuri but he later divorced her to marry an American.
A multi-faceted personality, Mehmood not just acted, directed and produced movies, but also sang in some of them. Mehmood also introduced some extraordinary talent to Hindi cinema. He gave music composer Rahul Dev Burman his first break in Chote Nawab. Burman also composed some of his best scores in Mehmood’s films like Bhoot Bungla, and Padosan. Later, after a misunderstanding with Burman, Mehmood introduced another composing virtuoso, Rajesh Roshan, in Kunwara Baap. Mehmood’s son Lucky Ali (so named after his film break in Pervarish around the time of Lucky’s birth) has inherited his father’s music sense and has made a name for himself in the field. Mehmood also gave major breaks to Amitabh Bachchan, who actually stayed with Mehmood and his brother in his early days in Mumbai and Aruna Irani in Bombay to Goa.
With his perfect sense of timing, his rib-tickling punch lines, sparkling wit and deliberated accented drawl, Mehmood has undoubtedly been Hindi cinema’s most beloved comedian. He was in fact the first comedian around whom scripts of films were written. He was such a scene-stealer that a time came when his place in movies became more important than that of the lead actor, and heroes were reluctant to share screen space with him!
