Kader Khan leaves behind fond memories
AN actor-writer-comedian and Qur’anic scholar, the multi-talented Kader Khan, who died in Toronto on December 31 aged 81, has left behind a vast oeuvre of work from a career spanning four decades, and will be remembered as much for his contribution to Hindu filmdom as for deciphering Islam for the laity across the religious spectrum.
He had spent nearly four months in hospital, for various old-age related ailments, including breathing issues.
Born on October 22, 1937, in Kabul to a Pashtun family, he migrated to Mumbai in 1952 and was educated in a municipal school and later graduated from Mumbai’s Ismail Yusuf College, Jogeshwari, a government-run institution. He followed up with a diploma in mechanical engineering from the MS Saboo Siddique Institute in Mumbai and became a professor there for seven years.
According to close family friend Javed Jamaluddin, the family initially lived in notorious Arab Gully in south Mumbai, before shifting to the suburbs with Kader Khan, who loved to read and write, continuing his higher education there.
It was during his college days that he developed a passion for theatre, acting and penning stories and dialogues.
It was Narendra Singh Bedi, son of the legendary Rajinder Singh Bedi who gave Kader Khan the first break for writing the superhit musical Jawani Diwani (1972) starring Randhir Kapoor-Jaya Bhaduri, and after that he never looked back.
Bollywood thespian Dilip Kumar, who watched one of his plays during a college day function, offered Kader Khan a role and an assignment for writing dialogues.
But he was already busy scripting Roti (1974), starring Rajesh Khanna, so later he wrote the film Bairaag (1976), a mega-hit musical featuring Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Banu in the lead roles, with Kader Khan in a character role.
An avid reader and film buff, he had a huge collection of books on various subjects related to film-making, acting, screenplay-writing, penning storiesdialogues from all over the world, besides being a Qur’anic scholar with a mastery over Arabic and Urdu.
It was Kader Khan who inspired his friend, A Krishnamurthi, head of Tina Films International (TFI), to venture into its first Bollywood endeavour, Ghar Ek Mandir (1984), a hit with a multi-star cast, and insisted on writing the dialogues.
“After he saw the story, he wanted to play the role of Seth Dharamdas, which was originally assigned to Amjad Khan. I knew him since his early days in the film industry and he was truly a good human being, a great actor and an acclaimed writer,” said Krishnamurthi.
During the shooting of Aag (1994), in which Sonali Bendre debuted as an actress, Kader Khan inspired the co-female lead, Shilpa Shetty, to learn Urdu to improve her diction and dialogue delivery and even taught her bits of it during takes, producer K Ramji said.
Starting with his first film as an actor in Yash Chopra’s directorial debut, the hit musical Daag (1973), he went on to act in more than 300 films over the next 40 years, and wrote the story or dialogues for more than 250 in Hindi and Urdu.
With his rich experience on stage, Kader Khan effortlessly managed to enact all types of negative-positive character roles, besides as a villain, comedian, and double-roles, while competing with some of the biggest names of his era.
He worked with top actors of the day like Rajesh Khanna, Feroze Khan, Jeetendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Randhir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Salman Khan and with leading directors like T Rama Rao, Yash Chopra, A Krishnamurthi, K Raghavendra Rao, K Bapaiah, Dasari Narayan Rao and David Dhavan, among many others.
Some of his most memorable films as a comedian-character actor are Daag, Adalat, Bairaag, Parvarish, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Shalimar, Mr Natwarlal, Suhaag, Dhan Daulat, Qurbani, Jwalamukhi, Abdullah, Naseeb, Yaarana, Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai, Satte Pe Satta, Desh Premee, Sanam Teri Kasam, Mehndi Rang Layegi, Himmatwala, Coolie, Ghar Ek Mandir, John Jaani Janardhan, Tawaif, Loha, Jawab Hum Denge, Shahenshah, Pyar Ka Mandir, Khoon Bhari Maang, Baap Numbri, Beta Dus Numbri, Saajan, Bol Radha Bol, Meherbaan, Aankhen, Eena Meena Deeka, Coolie No 1, Saajan Chale Sasural, Judaai, Dulhe Raja, Aunty No 1 and Sooryavansham.
He penned the story dialogues for top-grossing and acclaimed films like Jawani Diwani, Benaam, Roti, Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Suhaag, Mr Natwarlal, Yaarana, Lawaaris, Desh Premee, Khuddar, Coolie, Sharaabi, Ganga Jamna Saraswati, Singhasan, Khoon Bhari Maang and Aunty No 1.
He also produced a film, Shama, in 1981. | IANS