When stardom climbed on Rajesh Khanna, reminded in 1 slap, he used to tell himself Amitabh Bachchan’s second ‘father’

Last updated:January 29, 2025, 04:02 IST

He is the actor of Hindi cinema who scattered various characters of humor in his characters in films and entertained the audience. This actor, who has worked in more than 300 films for 4 decades, has …Read more

After a time, Amitabh competed with Rajesh Khanna.

New Delhi. In Hindi cinema, an actor, who was considered to be the unconscious king of comedy, was more than the hero of films. Actor who appeared long-wide personality and handsome, who brought comedy to a different stage in Hindi cinema. But do you know that the life of this person who made the whole world laugh with his acting was full of struggle and sorrows. He is the same actor who slapped him in front of everyone’s superstar Rajesh Khanna. Nevertheless, Rajesh Khanna, who is considered an aerrogent, completed his film. Not only this, he is the actor who considered himself the second ‘father’ of Amitabh Bachchan.

This actor was none other than Mahmud Ali. Mahmud Ali was an actor as well as a film director. Mahmud’s contemporary and subsequent artists copied his letters. Even Bollywood emperor Amitabh Bachchan had put his Hyderabadi character on screen. The specialty of Mehboob Saheb was that he used to make the audience laugh as much as he could make the eyes of the people with simplicity and seriousness.

Ashok Kumar’s childhood character played in ‘Kismet’
Mahmud Ali was the second of 8 siblings. He took over the responsibility of the family since childhood. Father and elder sister used to work in films, so he himself chose this path. The small characters who used to get in childhood, they used to say yes for it. He used to live by selling eggs on the streets, sometimes by selling toffees in local trains of Mumbai. But even after all this, his world used to revolve around acting. His mind did not work for acting. Seeing the urge of the son, his father recommended and he got the work of Bombay Talkies. He played the childhood role of veteran actor Ashok Kumar in the film ‘Kismet’ released in 1943.

Star shines during the shooting of ‘Nadan’
Meanwhile, he learned the work of driving and only after some time started driving with Gyan Mukherjee. Because on this excuse, he used to get a chance to go to the studio with Malik every day. After this, Mahmood also worked on driving at the house of Gopal Singh, Henna Ali and another manufacturer. The star of Mahmud’s fate when a junior artist could not speak his dialogue even after 10 consecutive retakes in front of actress Madhubala during the shooting of the film ‘Nadan’. Film director Heera Singh asked Mahmood to speak this dialogue, which he spoke in a furious manner without retake.

Got 300 rupees to work in the film
In this film, Mahmood got ₹ 300, while as a driver, he used to get 75 rupees in a month. Then he quit the driver’s work and registered his name in the Junior Artist Association. Started struggling to work in films. After this, he played small roles in films like Junior Artist ‘Do Bigha Zameen’, ‘Jagriti’, ‘CID’, ‘Pyaasa’ but did not benefit him much.

To avoid repeated rolls, many separate Johnrs presented themselves
After these films, Mahmud’s work was on the work of the then filmmaker Gurudutt. That year he gave a small but good role in the film ‘Pyaasa’. After this, he worked the film ‘Chhoti Sister’, which proved to be a millstone for his career. After the success of this film, he succeeded in making his mark in the film industry. In the 1960s, the film ‘Padosan’ is one of the most successful films of his career. ‘Padosan’ is counted among the best films in the Hindi cine world. To avoid a repeated role, he introduced himself in many separate Johnrs ‘Padosan’ is an example of a winning example. In this film, he played the comic role of a great set and was successful in looting the applause of the audience. A song of the film ‘Ek Chatur Nar’ is still very much liked by people.

Used to give new people a chance to work
In the 1970 film ‘Hamjoli’, Mahmood saw a different aspect of acting. In this film, he played a triple role and attracted the attention of the audience. Along with working in films, he also tried his hand in production. He used to give new people a chance to work. A name in this list is also of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, when Big B started working in Bollywood, he had to struggle a lot in the initial stages. In the initial days, Mahmood supported Amitabh Bachchan. Mahmud’s brother Anwar worked with him in his first film ‘Saat Hindustani’ and Anwar introduced him to Mahmood.

Why did Amitabh’s second ‘father’ tell himself?
It is said that many films after another, disappointed with failure, Amitabh was returning to Mumbai. Then Mahmood stopped Amitabh Bachchan and arranged for his stay in his house. Along with this, he also got many films and gave the lead role to Amitabh Bachchan in his film ‘Bombay to Goa’. Thanks to ‘Bombay to Goa’, Amitabh got a film like ‘Zanjeer’, which gave him a special identity, which is why Mahmood jokingly used to do Amitabh’s second ‘father’, although when Amitabh started climbing his heights when Amitabh started climbing his heights. His distance from Mahmud increased.

Rajesh Khanna’s lesson was taught
In the 60s and 70s, Mahmood had become the most influential actor director and producer in the Hindi industry. In front of him, even the greatest artists used to forget their stardom and now only focused on their work. There is a tremendous anecdote associated with Rajesh Khanna… Actually when Rajesh Khanna was at the peak of his career, the line of producers and directors kept outside his house. Meanwhile, in 1979, Mahmood signed Rajesh Khanna for his film ‘Janata Havildar’. At the same time, Hema Malini was the lead heroine of the film.

A ghost of stardom was brought down from Kaka’s head in a slap
Mahmood was shooting this film in his farm house. One day Mahmud’s son met Rajesh Khanna and he left him by saying hello. Superstar Rajesh Khanna had seen people getting mad at him. In such a situation, Mahmud’s son was usually released by saying hello. Rajesh Khanna got angry with this and started coming late on the set. He often used to go late on the set of films of the film, due to which Mahmood started having trouble shooting the film. One day Mahmood could not control his anger and when Rajesh Khanna arrived late, he did not see the need and gave him a strong spectacle. He angrily said, ‘You will be a superstar of your house… I have given you full money for the film and you have to complete the film’. The slap forgot his stardom to Rajesh Khanna and after that he started coming on time on shooting.