Birthday Special Mehmood Ali: Mehmood Bhaijaan who used to sacrifice his life in films by Ali Peter John

He was the son of a popular character actor named Mumtaz Ali, who it is said could have made it big, but died almost a pauper, especially due to his addiction to alcohol. Mahmood Ali was his eldest son and he wanted to follow his father's footsteps, but as is usually the case with most success stories, Mahmood Ali had to go through a severe struggle and often went hungry and had little work. Everyone used to go to the studio to search. As an actor. But most of the filmmakers told him that he neither had the face of a hero nor a villain and he took whatever work was given to him and was even a face in the crowd in many films. His main problem was to earn a living not only for himself but also for his large family...

The first director who noticed him and offered him the role of his cunning and evil brother was Guru Dutt and Mehmood played his role as the evil brother to perfection. For the next several years, Mehmood kept moving from one role to another until he discovered his true talent. He played the role of comedian and was the uncrowned king of comedy for the next thirty years. There came a time when he was more popular than the hero and at times even more popular than the hero, heroine and villain. In the eighties, I heard him talking to big filmmakers like Ramanand Sagar, NN Sippy and Pramod Chakraborty about their fees, which were in the range of ten to fifteen lakh rupees and not only all the filmmakers of Bombay but especially were in the south. He is ready to give whatever amount is asked. Like Pran who was the most popular villain, Mehmood was the most popular and highly paid comedian. His name in the cast was a guarantee of success and all the leading heroes had a complicity about working in films in which he was cast as the lead comedian....

The man who once roamed the streets of Mumbai now had a big bungalow, first in Mahim and then in Andheri. He had become such a big name that Meena Kumari's younger sister Madhu agreed to marry him, a wedding Although that did not last very long, they had sons and daughters whom Mehmood raised like any other rich star's children. He married Tracy, whom he named Tahira and had a happy lifestyle with some ups and downs until the end of his life, an end that was noted by many of his friends, co-stars, writers and musicians such as RD Burman. Came before this. Due to his heavy addiction to drugs, especially sleeping pills which he swallowed a hundred at a time, especially when he was under work pressure. Javed Siddiqui, who had his first experience of working with a commercial filmmaker when he directed Satyajit Ray's first Hindi film,

Mehmood had his own way of making films based on comedy but with a very strong message. He was also known for his double-meaning dialogues which made Dada Kondke a big fan of his and made nine Marathi films, all of which were Golden Jubilee hits and got him included in the Guinness Book of Records and before he died he made a Made a Hindi film. Like Mehmood, he made a film with Amjad Khan, another Hindi film actor of whom he was a fan. Among the many films directed by Mehmood were “Chhote Nawab”, “Bhoot Bangla”, “Kunwara Baap”, “Ginni Aur Johnny” and many others.

He was the man who encouraged young talents like RD Burman who gave him his first break as both a musician and actor, and Amitabh Bachchan whom he encouraged as he was a friend of his younger brother Anwar Ali and Aruna Irani who was considered by many It was said that he had a girlfriend and some even said that he had some kind of marriage with her, which is still under speculation. But he proved that she was special to him when he cast her in some of his better films and did him a big favor by casting her as Amitabh Bachchan's first heroine in “Bombay to Goa”.

It was in the early nineties that he started falling ill regularly and also faced financial problems, which made Raja shift to an apartment in Abhishek Apartment of Four Bungalows, where he was on two ventilators all the time. But he still had and did not lose his sense of humor. He called the long ventilator “my Amitabh Bachchan” and the short ventilator “my Mukri”.

This was the time when I was planning the “Screen Awards”, which was to be conducted by Anupam Kher and his friend Satish Kaushik. We all felt that it would be a good idea to honor all the comedians in the industry. Anupam and Satish had made a long list in which Mahmood Bhaijaan's name was not there. He said that he is very ill and is in America. I told him that he was here in Mumbai and near Andheri Sports Club where the awards ceremony was to be held. He asked me if I could talk to him and somehow get him on stage and it would be the highlight of the evening….

I went to Abhishek Apartment in Andheri to see Mehmood Bhaijaan and he looked like a new version of Santa Claus, but his humor was stronger than Santa Claus or any other comedian or funster. I told him about the incident and he was very excited, even though his doctors had told him not to move from his bed.

We made a plan according to which Mehmood Bhaijaan would come on stage sitting on a wheelchair. They will be brought in a specially raised lift. This idea was a huge success because we didn't even announce that he existed anywhere. The only sad thing I remember about the incident was that I was wandering around looking for a wheelchair. There was a fraudulent doctor named Dr. Narayanrao Chavan who was more of a dirty politician than a good doctor. I told him the wheelchair was for Mehmood Bhaijaan and he just said, “I don't care who it is, but I will charge Rs 100 per hour for the wheelchair”. I agreed to his condition and even cursed him under my breath because he was the same doctor who had taken me for many “rides” when I was a student at the nearby Bhavan College.
The last time I met Mehmood Bhaijaan, he was seriously ill and the family was preparing to fly him to Pennsylvania, but he said, “Why all this drama? Apun's game is over. Don't let us die here."

A weak afterthought, there was big news. Mahmood Bhaijaan died of a heart attack in his sleep. His mortal remains were taken to Mumbai and kept in the premises of Mehboob Studios so that people could bid a final farewell to the man who promised to live forever by the power of his work, who was willing to live and die to make others laugh. Were born. The coffin in which he was kept with lots of flowers also seemed as if he was making fun of life and living.

He lived with dignity... Bhaijaan's flamboyance was a part of his personality. He lived like a king in terms of his lifestyle as well as his big heart. He took care of our extended family of 150 people. He loved cars and at one time owned a fleet of 24 cars, including a Syntagra, Dodge, Impala, MG, Jaguar and others. He had an in-house mechanic named Austin. He would ask him to paint the car to match the color of the suit he was wearing for an event. It doesn't matter that they had to spend almost a lakh to paint it! He also used to match his shoes with the color of the car.

He gifted me a Jaguar. My girlfriend loved me because I drove it. So did Amitabh (Bachchan) have a girlfriend because she ran it too (Bachchan reportedly got Mehmood's support in the initial years of his struggle)! I remember when I took Tracy Bhabhi's (Mehmood's second wife) sister in the car for a dance party, that's when she slapped me. He did not accept this. Bhaijaan enjoyed shopping in London. If he likes a particular shirt/pant/shoes, he will choose all the colors in the same style.

But it was never about 'me'. Once when he returned from a trip abroad, he got so many gifts for everyone that he had to bring them home in a tempo. These included Seiko watches for liftmen, watchmen, and even postmen! Another hobby of Bhaijaan was horses and he owned a few of them. His favorite horse Hardheld was imported from America. Bhaijaan asked jockey Mansingh, who was going through a bad phase, to meet Sai Baba of Shirdi and from then onwards his winning streak started.

Bhaijaan respected all religions. So he stuck to 'Mahesh' (name of Lord Shiva) as his screen name. We will offer Eid prayers together at Azad Maidan. People recognized him but never harassed him. Then he would go to Johnny Walker's house and ask for Eidi (gift money). He also visited the shrines of Sufi saints Makhdoomshah Baba (in Mahim and Malad) and Qamar Ali Darvesh (Shivpur, Pune).

Bhaijaan received a lot of fan mail from women. A funny incident, which Bhaijaan often used to narrate, was that once he had gone to Japan for the shooting of a film. There the hero and he went to a night club after which he took the geisha to his room. At midnight, Bhaijaan heard a knock on his door. This was a hero. “It got messed up. It turned out to be 'he'. I chased him away!” said the astonished star.

Mehmood developed his own style of comedy. At his peak, he was paid more than the film's hero and it's easy to see why. With the top dollar rolling in, he was living a flamboyant life. A big expense, he bought a farm to keep his horses. This glow may have something to do with his royal blood.

“He lived like a king in terms of his lifestyle as well as his big heart. He took care of our extended family of 150 people. He loved cars,” his brother Anwar Ali recalled in an interview. Reportedly, his then protégé Amitabh Bachchan used to steal from Mehmood's car collection to “impress his girlfriend”.

As for his wives, Bhaijaan's first marriage to Meenaji (Kumari) sister Madhu did not last long. They had four sons from their marriage – Masood Ali (portrayed in Ek Baap Chhe Bette), Maqsood Ali (aka actor/singer Lucky Ali), Maqdoom Ali aka Macky Ali (played a challenged child in Kunwara Baap) and Masoom Ali who Produced Enemy of the World (1996).

Bhaijaan later met Tracy, an American resident in Mahabaleshwar, where he was shooting for Bhoot Bangla (1965). They fell in love and got married. He had '3$1' children. He had three children with Tracy Bhabhi, Mansoor Ali, Manzoor Ali (played a drug addict in Dushman Duniya Ka) and daughter Latifunnisa aka Ginny (acted in Ginny Aur Johnny). There is a story behind the fourth girl, Kizie. Once when they were in Bangalore, Tracy Bhabhi found a baby girl lying abandoned in a field. He picked him up, bathed him and said to Bhaijaan, “Let's take him to Mother Teresa.” But mother said, “That's for you!” He also gave a cross to Bhaijaan, which he wore throughout his life. They named the baby girl Rahmat (blessing). Gyapral (her pet name) is a nurse by profession and lives in Pennsylvania, USA. She loved Bhaijaan. Once he was in America, So he gave him the keys of a car and said, “This car is for you.” There were also rumors of Bhaijaan's closeness to Arunaji (Irani). Yes, Bhaijaan and Arunaji were close to each other but not to such an extent that they hurt other people's sentiments. This is true.

Bhaijaan was a heavy smoker. He did not consume alcohol, but took large doses of Kalampos, which had a sedative effect. He had it even during the shooting. Soon, his health started deteriorating. Dushman Duniya Ka, in 1996, was one of his last films. Soon, he dropped out of the industry. One of his lungs was collapsed. He needed an oxygen mask to breathe. He went to America with his sister-in-law Tracy Bhabhi because of the medical facilities there. He became spiritual and often read verses from the Quran on the phone.

His personal life was difficult, from his father's alcoholism to his son's disability and the financial responsibility of running a large family. In fact, he often dwelled on the irony of his life. He used to say that he made people laugh for a living but wondered why his own life was so sad and tragic. As Chaplin said, “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in the long shot.”

After his death on July 23, 2004 in Pennsylvania, his mortal remains were brought to Mehboob Studios for the final farewell. He was 72 years old. Amitabh did not go to work for five days waiting for the arrival of his mortal remains. After a formal farewell here, his body was taken to Bangalore and buried next to our father and his son Macky, who had died of a heart attack a year ago. That day I felt that I had lost my father.

On the death anniversary of legendary comedian Mehmood, Big B shared some wonderful memories on the blog. Some of his last words… “The sun shines in the city – a rare occurrence! And this amid the excitement of the Olympics starting with great anticipated fanfare on the evening of the 27th, the entire population is strolling in parks, on benches, in cafes and pubs, in summer clothes!

Today is also the death anniversary of Mehmood Bhai, whom we addressed as Bhaijaan, the greatest comedian of the industry. His brother Anwar Ali and I met on the sets of my first film 'Saat Hindustani', where he played one of the roles, and we have remained close friends ever since. I stayed with him, along with the rest of his large family, in Mahmood Bhai's apartment in a large complex. Mahmood Bhai was among the early contributors to my career graph; He believed in me from day one, against the wishes and comments of my opponents.

For some strange reason he used to address me as 'Danger Diabolik', and was the first producer to give me a lead role - in 'Bombay to Goa', a remake of a Tamil hit 'Madras to Pondicherry', in which he was another brilliant comedian. Nagesh from the south, in front of Aruna Irani. Mehmood Bhaijaan did several remakes of Nagesh's films in Tamil and all of them were very successful. Nagesh was an institution. His talent has not been matched till now. He was a film with comedy quotient, but such was his popularity and following.

Lead roles were written for him, despite the fact that he was the comedian in the film. PS- It took ten years for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation to name a road after him with golden letters reading “Comedian Mehmood Chowk” with a black plague. They don't need to delay a favor to a man who will continue to enjoy life and laughter.