Agha (21 March 1914 – 30 April 1992) was an Indian actor of

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

films. He was known for comic roles and modeled himself on

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

's style of acting. He appeared in over 300 Hindi films in his career between 1935 and 1986. His son,

Jalal Agha Jalal Agha (11 July 1945 – 5 March 1995) was an Indian actor and director in Bollywood films. He was the son of the popular comedian actor Agha. Jalal studied acting at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. Career He made his d ...

, also became an actor, mostly known for the song ''Mehbooba Mehbooba'' in ''

Sholay ''Sholay'' (, ) is a 1975 Indian epic action-adventure film directed by Ramesh Sippy, produced by his father G. P. Sippy, and written by Salim–Javed. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan), hired ...

'' (1975).

Early life

Aghajan Baig was born on 21 March 1914 at Fatima Nagar, Pune,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His father was originally from Iran and had settled in Pune but had to leave Pune for Bombay in search of employment. Agha confessed that he went to school for just three days, "that was as long as I could stand it". He spent time "mooching" around the Poona Race Course as he wanted to become a jockey and loved horses. Agha came to Bombay and joined his neighbourhood drama group. His interest in acting took him to films where in 1933 he started as a production manager in Kanwal Movietone.

Career

His first film was Kanwal Movietone's ''Stree Dharma'', also called ''Painted Sin'' (1935), starring

Mehtab Mehtab is both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Mehtab (actress) (1913–1997), Indian actress * Mehtab Abbasi (born 1953), Pakistani politician * Mehtab Hossain (born 1985), Indian footballer and coach ...

and Nazir. However, his films ''Karwan-e-Husn'' (1935),

Wadia Movietone Wadia Movietone was a noted Indian film production company and studio based in Mumbai, established in 1933 by Wadia brothers J. B. H. Wadia and Homi Wadia. It was most known for stunt, fantasy and mythological films, including '' Hunterwali'' ...

's ''Rangila Mazdoor'' (1938) and '' Anuradha'' (1940) helped him gain recognition as a comic actor. He acted in Kikubhai Desai's (

Manmohan Desai Manmohan Desai (26 February 1937 – 1 March 1994) was an Indian film producer and director. He was one of the most successful filmmakers of the 70s and 80s. Desai was an influential and sought-after film director of Bollywood and a pioneer of ...

's father) ''Circus Ki Sundari'' (1941), which was popular and this helped in getting lead roles in films such as '' Muqabala'' (1942), ''Laheri Cameraman'' (1944) and ''Taxi Driver'' (1944). His most active years were from the 1930s to the 1980s.

Filmography

Selected list.

Death

Agha died on 30 April 1992 of a heart attack in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, Maharashtra, India, at the age of 78. He was survived by three daughters, one son

and son-in-law actor

Tinnu Anand Tinu Anand (born Virender Raj Anand) is an Indian actor, director, writer and producer in Hindi cinema and a few Telugu and Tamil films. Personal life He is the son of veteran writer Inder Raj Anand, brother of producer Bittu Anand and unc ...

.Profile of Agha
Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation website, Retrieved 11 February 2022

Awards

He was nominated for the

Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role. Although the awards starte ...

for the 1960 film ''

Ghunghat A ghoonghat (''ghunghat'', ''ghunghta'', ''ghomta'', ''orhni'', ''odani'', ''laaj'', ''chunari'', ''jhund'', ''kundh'') is a headcovering or headscarf, worn primarily in the Indian subcontinent, by some married Hindu, Jain, and Sikh women to co ...

'', but did not win the award.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Agha 20th-century Indian male actors 1914 births 1992 deaths Male actors in Hindi cinema Indian male comedians Film producers from Maharashtra Male actors from Pune 20th-century Indian comedians