Comedian Mehmood's introduction to show business came early in life. One of the large brood sired by Mumtaz Ali (a well-known actor from the Bombay Talkies studio), Mehmood hungered for attention and success. So when opportunities came his way, he sank his teeth into his roles with unfettered gusto.

Starring as a popular funny man in a string of successes from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s (Sasural, Ziddi, Aankhen, Padosan, Do Phool), Mehmood was for years the film industry's veritable mirth machine.




Starting at the bottom rung before he wrung every emotion to draw laughs, Mehmood began his career with a variety of odd jobs. He peddled newspapers, sold eggs, and even taught table tennis to film star Meena Kumari!

Incidentally, he married the famed tragedienne's sister Madhuri. After the birth of their son Masood in 1954, Mehmood realised that stray assignments and small acting roles (he made blink-and-you-miss-him appearances in classics like Do Bigha Zameen and Pyaasa) would not be enough. So he set about exploiting his innate talent for being funny.

When B R Chopra created a role for Mehmood in Ek Hi Raasta because he was the heroine Meena Kumari's brother-in-law, the sensitive comedian left the film without a second glance. The movie that secured him fame was Parvarish (1958), where he memorably danced alongside Raj Kapoor singing Mama o mama.

Because of Mehmood's personable looks, he tried to cash in on his initial success by playing the hero in films like Chhote Nawab and Pyaase Panchhi. But he was destined to win acclaim as the definitive comedian of the 1960s, providing the laughs in tense dramas like Sasural, Zindagi, Kaajal, and Gumnaam.



With an anything-for-a-laugh attitude blended with genuine talent, Mehmood grew notorious for his nutty nuggets. Here are two of the more famous ones. Pyaar Kiye Jaa has this classic scene in which Mehmood, who plays an aspiring film director, tries to convince his moneybags father (Om Prakash) to bankroll his banner, Wah Wah Productions.

Narrating a ghost story from his film's plot to a credulous Om Prakash, Mehmood uncannily recreated the whole scenario using only dialogue, but with the help of onomatopoeic sounds like 'Waoo, waoo, kudu kudu, kach kach kach' woven into his whacky story of a chudail [witch]. The result was a scintillating sequence that had Om Prakash perspiring and the audience rolling in the aisles.

In Padosan, Mehmood played Sunil Dutt's rival for the attentions of Saira Banu. As the choti-sporting, lungi-clad music teacher enamoured with his shishya, Bindoo,


Mehmood's classic riposte, Aye sur badla, aye phir bhatkaya, sung in response to Kishore Kumar's manipulation of the tune of Ek chatur naar, brought the roof down.

In the film's climactic sequence when Saira marries Sunil, Mehmood squeezed the tragi-comic moment for all its worth by strenuously blowing into a trumpet even as tears coursed down his red eyes -- the audience laughed even while he cried.




While the lean Laurel and the hefty Hardy partnered each other to great effect, Mehmood also drew great power from the apt reactions his partners made to his capers. Mehmood took turns teaming up with the stout Shubha Khote (Sasural, Humrahi, Ziddi, Love In Tokyo) and the reed slim and attractive Aruna Irani (Aulad, Garam Masala, Naya Zamaana, Do Phool).

Incidentally, his pairing with fellow funny man I S Johar fuelled a string of Johar-Mehmood films that briefly made them the Bing Crosby and Bob Hope of Hindi cinema. Their film Johar Mehmood In Goa (1965) was a smash hit.

In the 1970s, Mehmood tried to expand his agenda to include serious acting. He may have been more at home in pure comedies like Padosan and Do Phool, but Mehmood blended over-the-top melodrama with bawdy comedy in Mastana, Kunwara Baap, Sabse Bada Rupaiya and Ginny Aur Johny.


Mehmood enjoyed the privilege of singers like Mohammed Rafi and Manna Dey lending their voice to his dotty ditties.

Here are the more famous ones:
Hum kaale hain toh kya hua dilwale hain (Gumnaam), in which he chased Helen sporting a chequered lungi and a Hitler moustache.

O meri maina, tu maan le mera kehna (Pyar Kiye Jaa) in which he did the twist with a ditzy starlet, played by an elfin Mumtaz.

Tujhko rakhe Ram, tujhko Allah rakhe (Aankhen) saw a disguised Mehmood scouring the streets of Tokyo begging for dollars!

Ek chatur naar badi hoshiyar had the audience in splits as Kishore Kumar and Mehmood matched wits and vocals.

Saj rahee galee meri amma (Kunwara Baap) made you laugh and cry simultaneously, a trait that became Mehmood's signature in his latter years.


For some youngsters of today, Mehmood is pop star Lucky Ali's father, but for four generations of moviegoers he is a comedian who had an inexhaustible gold mine of laughs.

thanks to all of you........................i will try to watch most of them.............if had time left............otherwise..........plz list the top five ..............except "padosan and Mombay to Gowa".............thankuuuuuuuuu alll