A tribute to Bollywood’s Timeless Comedians

Friends,
If I were to ask following questions:

• Who was the first great comedian in English cinema?
• Who were the first iconic comedy duo in English cinema?

Most of you would immediately know the answer.
Charlie Chaplin, and the legendary duo Laurel and Hardy.
Now, if I ask the same questions by simply replacing the word English with Hindi, I am quite certain that many of you would struggle to answer.

Well, let us study and take an overview about Hindi silver screen comedians who played important roles in popularising films and gave us a good entertainment.

NOOR
MOHAMMED MEMON:
In the era of thirties and forties Noor Mohammed Memon was the first ‘star’ comedian and has been referred to as India’s first comedy king. He was deeply inspired by Charlie Chaplin and he adopted his screen name as Noor Mohammed Charlie. He also wore a moustache on screen like his idol. Besides being a comedian he also used to sing his own songs.
One of his films was also titled “Indian Charlie”

Addressing my second question, AHAMED GHORY and MANOHAR DIXIT formed a celebrated comedy duo during the 1930s and 1940s and were popularly referred to as The Indian Laurel and Hardy. Sadly, the untimely demise of Manohar Dixit in the late 1940s brought an end to their partnership.
The void was soon filled by another successful duo—Gope and Yaqub, who delivered memorable comic performances in films such as “Sagai” and “Hungama.”

MIRZA MUSHARFF:
Another talented artist of that period was Mirza Musharraf, who won audiences over with his unique style of humour. He was particularly known for mixing Hindi and English in his dialogues, often translating Hindi phrases into humorous English expressions. He remained active in the industry until the early 1970s. Some of his film titles themselves were amusing—“Haha Hihi Huhu” being one such.

AGHA:
Agha was again one of the favourite of thousands of cinema fans.He joined the industry in mid thirties not as a comedian but played supporting roles.
He was a co-star of Dilip Kumar’s debut film “Jawar Bhatta.” (1944) This was a beginning of their long lasting friendship.
Later he set off to play comedy and another feather was added to his cap.
Late forties and early fifties was his reign as a comedian. He was also nominated as Best comedian for Filmfare awards for film “Ghunghat”
While reminiscing about Agha, one cannot forget a unique comic figure who appeared in only one Hindi film. He was brought from Los Angeles on contract, returned after the shoot, and yet enjoyed equal footing with the lead actors in a star-studded cast. He even appeared in two songs picturised on Agha and contributed immensely to the film’s success.
Did you guess who?
The answer is ZIPPY—the chimpanzee. Film is“Insaniyat”(1955)

SHEIKH:
Next on the list is Sheikh. Unfortunately, he did not receive many opportunities in big-budget “A-grade” films and was largely seen in low-budget stunt movies. Nevertheless, he is fondly remembered for his comic roles in “Hatim Tai,” “Bombay to Goa,” and “Al Hilal,” where he sang the immensely popular qawwali by Ismail Azad—
“ Hamein to loot liya _husn walo ne “

MUKRI:
With his short and plump physique, Mukri became a favourite of producer-director Mehboob Khan. His pairing with the towering Sheikh Mukhtar (6’4”, taller than Amitabh Bachchan) was visually hilarious and greatly enjoyed by audiences.
Mukri is unforgettable as Dilip Kumar’s sidekick in “Aan,” “Kohinoor,” and “Ram Aur Shyam,” and alongside Amitabh Bachchan in “Sharabi,” complete with his thick moustache and the famous line:
“ Moochein ho to Nathulal jaisi!”

BHAGWAN DADA:
Popular as dada among his colleagues and Bhagwan among his fans.
He was not only a comedian but also a producer, Director and had his own production house. He produced and acted as a comedian in many of his stunt movies. But the release of his “Albela” in 1952 which proved a smash hit revolutionised Hindi cinema by proving that a hero could also be a comedian. This shattered the long-held belief that heros could not be funny, and paved the way for many stars to embrace comedy.
Examples are many:
Raj Kapoor gave a superb touch of comedy in “Shree 420” Dilip Kumar in “Kohinoor” and ‘Ram aur Shyam” Dharmendra in “Chupke Chupke” and “Pratigya” Shammi Kapoor in “Professor” Rajesh Khanna in “Bawarchi” Sanjeev Kumar in “Pati Patni aur Woh” and “Angoor” Amitabh in “Lawaris” and ” Namak Halal” the list goes on.

I S JOHAR (M.A, LL.B)
Yes—that was his academic qualification.
He joined the industry in early fifties. Wrote many film stories.
His maiden was BR Chopra’s first directional movie “Afsana” and that was also comedian Jagdeep’s first appearance as a child artist. He was one of the casts in that movie.Years later he was again signed for the same character for “Dastaan” which was a remake of “Afsana”
In “Hum sub Chor Hain” he played comic role with his partner Majnu which was a hit.
Later he produced, wrote and directed many comedies.
“Johar Mehmood series” in Goa, Hong Kong and couple of others. For many years, till he passed away, he remained one of the columnists of Filmfare magazine where he was giving witty answers to questions of the readers.
He had also worked in Hollywood films namely “Harry Black” “North West Frontier” and “Lawrence of Arabia”

JOHNNY WALKER:
Johnny Walker brought a fresh and modern style of comedy to Indian cinema. His facial expressions and body language were unmatched, and films often ran successfully purely on his presence.
A film was even titled “Johnny Walker,” in which he played the lead role. All of his songs, sung by Mohammed Rafi, topped popularity charts and remain evergreen. He won two Filmfare awards.

MEHMOOD.
Mehmood Ali was a son of very popular actor of forties, Mumtaz Ali. He joined the film industry in mid fifties and acted in very small insignificant roles. In movies like Guru Dutt’s CID and Pyassa where Johnny Walker was playing important roles.
At that time Johnny Walker could not have even dreamt that Mehmood, in coming days would wear a crown of comedy.
Starting from a decade of sixties and onwards Mehmood not only proved himself as most popular comedian of the period but he also achieved success in supporting roles.
He won 5 Filmfare’s awards, 2 as supporting actor and 3 as a Comedian. He shone best when acting a comedy scene in partnership with another artist of the same calibre.
Open the link below and watch how 2 great actors have performed a comic scene in film “Pyar Kiye Jaa”:

In above clip you could notice the perfect chemistry of both artists.

OM PRAKASH:
Another very telanted and veteran character actor who performed any character with perfection.

UTPAL DUTT:
Like Om Prakash he was also a character actor and played comedy roles in films. Remember “Gol Maal” with Amol Paleker?

KISHORE KUMAR:
For Kishore Kumar I will only say that he was master in all fields of film departments. As an actor he was popular as a comedian.
You have to watch his comedy movies like “Chalti ka Naam Gadi” ” Bewaqoof” “Half Ticket” Baap re Baap” and few others.

RAJENDRA NATH.
He was a brother in law of Raj Kapoor. He joined the industry in early fifties and made his own stand as a comedian. He worked in almost all movies produced by Nasir Hussein. It was interesting to watch him playing sidekick of Shammi Kapoor.
(Dil Deke Dekho, Janwar, Raj Kumar and few more)

JAGDEEP.
As mentioned above he started his carrier as a child artist in B R Chopra’s “Afsana” Mr. Chopra wanted a child with a good command of Urdu and his destiny was that he was picked by the production unit of of BR Chopra from Dharavi, a slum of Mumbai.
Urdu proved a fortune for him. In his adolescence he worked in some successful movies like “Hum Panchi ek Daal Ke”, “Ab Dilli Door Nahin” “Munna”
Later as an adult he did memorable films like Bhabhi, Barkha, Bindiya. His character of Soorma Bhopali in “Sholey” where he brought a totally different way of dialogue delivery which got applause from his fans. His performance as Salman Khan’s Dad in “Andaz Apna Apna” remains memorable one like “Sholey”

ASRANI.
” Ham Angrez ke Zamane ke Jailor Haiy”
If you narrate these words to someone who has watched “Sholey” fifty years back will quickly go through his memory lane and remember Asrani. Sadly, he has passed away last year in October.
He joined the industry in early sixties but came to limelight in seventies and remained active till his death.
He worked as a comedian and supporting roles. Out of his many films, his latest where he played comic roles are “Dhamaal” “Malamal weekly”
and few other films.

DEVAN VARMA.
Yes! He is one of my favourite comedians.
His comedy
always stood clean and sensible.
He was the son in law of veteran actor Ashok Kumar.
Besides playing comic roles he also played supporting roles, even produced and directed few films. His debut in Hindi films was in BR Chopra’s “Dharamputra” followed by “Gumrah” He had a good command of Bhojpuri language. Directors used to cast him as Bihari, speaking Bhojpuri. He also portrait as Gujju, christened as Pravin Shah, and Pravin Bhai which won him 2 of his 3 Filmfare awards in “Chori Mera Kaam” “Chor Ke Ghar Chor” and “Angoor”
Unfortunately he lost all of his 3 trophies and till his death he was hoping against hope that one day he will get a phone call from Airlines that they have found his missing suitcase!!

RAJ KISHORE
Raj Kishore was always casted in small insignificant roles. He is remembered by his comedy and dialogues in films like “Sholey” as one of the prisoners, “Padosan” as one in the team of Sunil Dutt and as a restaurant waiter serving both Dilip Kumars in “Ram aur Shyam”

DHUMAL.
He appeared in many films as a comedian but in almost all his movies he supported another comic character. In “Sasural” with Mehmood. In “Ek phool char Kante” Johnny Walker.

SUNDAR:
Yet another artist playing comedy. Like Dhumal he was good as supporting another comic character like he played the role of a father to Johnny Walker in “Mere Mehboob”
He also played sidekick of Dev Anand in “Solva Saal”

RAHID KHAN:
Mostly he was pairing as a sidekick of Dev Anand. (“Kala Bazaar” Tere Ghar ke Samne”) and in the team of
comedians in “Ek Phool Char Kante”

TIKU TALSANIA:
Tiku Talsania entered into films in eighties. He acted in many films and almost in all with other comic characters.
“Hungama” “Andaz Apna Apna” “Phir Hera Pheri” “Ek Aur Ek Agyara” are notable ones.

KADER KHAN:
Civil Engineer by profession Kader Khan joined film industry in early seventies as a successful writer cum screenplay and also a dialogue writer. Later he appeared before the camera as a character actor and played comedy in number of films.

GOVINDA:
A good actor he played comedy in many films pairing with Kader Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Shakti Kapoor.
Some of his movies like Biwi No.1, Coolie No.1, and few more entertained his fan followings.

LAXMIKANT BIRDE:
Birde was popular with Marathi screen and he also played comic roles in Hindi movies. He played Salman Khan’s sidekick in “Maine Pyar Kiya” “Hum Aapke Haiy Kaun” “Sajaan” and was seen in few other Hindi movies.

PARESH RAWAL and OM PURI:
Both were among the finest actors of Indian cinema. Their on-screen pairing created exceptional humour in films such as “Hera Pheri,” “Malamaal Weekly,” “OMG,” “Chup Chup Ke,” and “Chor Machaaye Shor.” Sadly, Om Puri’s untimely demise deprived audiences of many more such performances.
Paresh Rawal’s roles in “Hera Pheri” “Andaz Apna Apna” “Hungama” and many more films are remembered.

JOHNNEY LEVER:
Does he need an introduction? Active since 1980, Johnny Lever remains one of Bollywood’s most celebrated comedians. With four Filmfare Awards and a record 21 nominations, his contribution to comedy is unmatched.

RAJPAL YADAV:
A new entrant who joined the bandwagon of comedians in the late 1990s, his debut film “Shool” was released in 1999. Since then, he has appeared in a large number of films. Watching his comic performances on screen is always a delight, and he has featured in many of the notable films mentioned above
in recent years.

I recall also couple of other artists whose contribution is also worth noting.
Paintal, Birbal, Maruti, Mohan Choti and Mushtak Khan

Recently comedy on big screen has migrated to TV. Comedy shows have become more popular.

Before I conclude — I pass on my salutations to all these legends mentioned above
who are no longer with us, but their work and memories live on forever. To them, I say— Rest in Peace.
And to those still entertaining us—may they live long and continue to spread laughter.

A K Bagha.