Hamid Ali Khan (27 January 1922 – 22 October 1998), better known by his
stage name
A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...
Ajit, was an Indian actor active in
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
films. He acted in over two hundred movies over a period of almost four decades.
Ajit is also credited for starring as a lead actor in popular Bollywood movies such as '' Beqasoor'',[ , ''Bada Bhai'', ''Milan'', ''Bara Dari'', and later as a second lead in '']Mughal-e-Azam
''Mughal-e-Azam'' () is a 1960 Indian Epic film, epic historical drama film produced and directed by K. Asif. Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, and Durga Khote, it follows the love affair between Mughal Empire, Mughal Prince ...
'' and .[
]
Early life
Ajit was born as Hamid Ali Khan into a Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
family of Shahjahanpur
Shahjahanpur () is a municipal corporation, town and district headquarters of Shahjahanpur District in Western Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located between Bareilly and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.
History
Shahjahanpur was establi ...
and was brought up in Hyderabad city. The family belonged to the Barozai clan of Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...
, Ajit's ancestors having moved from Kandahar
Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...
in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
to Shahjahanpur
Shahjahanpur () is a municipal corporation, town and district headquarters of Shahjahanpur District in Western Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located between Bareilly and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.
History
Shahjahanpur was establi ...
in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
before settling down in Hyderabad. His father was a personal driver of Nizam of Hyderabad
Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I wh ...
Mir Osman Ali Khan.[
]
Career
According to Ajit's son Shehzad when Ajit first arrived in Mumbai from Hyderabad, he had so little money that he lived in cement pipes on Mohammad Ali Road. Local gangsters controlled these makeshift shelters and demanded protection money, but Ajit refused to pay, fought back, and soon became so respected that no one dared trouble him. In fact, people began offering him free tea, snacks, and meals out of respect. Initially in his career, he struggled to meet people and be accepted in any film project, and in order to feed himself, he worked as an "extra" in several films. Finally, he managed to land a leading role, and in the first couple of films, he is credited by his real name, Hamid Khan. He did not meet with much success, and on the advice of Nana Bhai Bhat, he took the name "Ajit" meaning "indomitable" as his screen-name, but his luck did not greatly improve. Although he did several films as a protagonist and became known to the public, and although his distinctive baritone voice and impressive personality brought him a fan following, his luck at the box office was not good at all. Film director K. Amarnath, who directed him in '' Beqasoor'', suggested that the actor change his long name of Hamid Ali Khan to something shorter, and Hamid zeroed in on "Ajit". '' Beqasoor'' (1950), in which he acted with Madhubala, was one of the biggest hits of 1950. Ajit's films as hero include (1953), ''Bada Bhai'', ''Milan'', ''Baradari'' (1955) and ''Dholak'' (1951) and in all of them, he did credible work as actor. In (1953), the song ''"Dekh tere sansar ki haalat kya ho gayi Bhagwan"'' is picturised on him. He moved soon afterwards to second-lead roles, which he accepted because he had no other source of income. These movies include and ''Mughal-e-Azam
''Mughal-e-Azam'' () is a 1960 Indian Epic film, epic historical drama film produced and directed by K. Asif. Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, and Durga Khote, it follows the love affair between Mughal Empire, Mughal Prince ...
''.[
Ajit, who ran away from home to Mumbai after selling his college books, started his career in films in the 1940s. Luck did not favor him in the beginning. He began with the 1946 movie ''Shahe Misra'', acting opposite Geeta Bose, and also did films such as ''Sikander'' (with Van Mala), ''Hatimtai'' (1947), ''Aap Beeti'' (with Khursheed), ''Sone Ki Chidiya'' (with Leela Kumari), ''Dholak'' (1951) (with Meena Shori) and ''Chanda Ki Chandni'' (with Monica Desai) as her leading hero, but flopped. He did the most films (15) with Nalini Jaywant. Ajit switched over to playing the villain. His first movie as a villain was '' Suraj'', followed by films such as '' Zanjeer'' and '' Yaadon Ki Baaraat'' (1973).][
His famous dialogues included the "Mona darling" bit in ''Yaadon Ki Baraat'', "Lily don't be silly" in ''Zanjeer''][ and the one about a "Lion" in Kallicharan. Ajit's other well known films were , and ''Shikari'' to name only a few. In his four decades of film career, Ajit had acted along with the legendary Prithviraj Kapoor, ]Sohrab Modi
Sohrab Merwanji Modi (2 November 1897 – 28 January 1984) was an Indian stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include ''Khoon Ka Khoon'' (1935), a version of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'', ''Sikandar (1941 film), Sikandar'', '' ...
, Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.*
*
*
*
* With a cinemati ...
, I. S. Johar, Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...
, Dev Anand
Dev Anand (; born Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand; 26 September 1923 – 3 December 2011) was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer known for his work in Indian cinema, Hindi cinema. He is considered as one of the greatest and most succes ...
, Shammi Kapoor
Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. Kapoor is considered one of the greatest and most s ...
, Dharmendra
Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol (born 8 December 1935), known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer, and politician who is primarily known for his work in Hindi films. Dharmendra is widely considered one of the greatest, most h ...
and many actresses, both young and old.
In the mid-seventies, he had acted in over 57 films, mostly as a villain. His dialogue delivery remains popular even to this date.[
]
Acting style
Ajit almost always portrayed the sophisticated, educated, well groomed evil mastermind, albeit heartless villain. Ajit was presented in striking western attire, the "bold" checked suits, matching overcoats, white leather shoes, wide sunglasses, jewellery accessories. Given his stature as a senior artist, Ajit was usually the gang leader to second tier villains (such as Jeevan (Hindi actor)
Omkar Nath Dhar (24 October 1915 – 10 June 1987), better known by his stage name Jeevan, was an Indian actor. He played the role of Narad Muni in films of the 1950s, a total of 49 times.http://cineplot.com/jeevan-memories Memories of Jeev ...
, Prem Chopra
Prem Chopra (born 23 September 1935) is an Indian actor in Hindi films. He has acted in 380 films over a span of over 60 years.
Life and education
Chopra, the third of six children of Ranveerlal and Rooprani Chopra, a Punjabi Hindu family, was ...
, Ranjeet
Ranjeet (born as Gopal Bedi; 12 September 1942) is an Indian actor and film director.
He has mostly played villain roles in over 200 Hindi films.
He has also played a positive character in the TV series '' Aisa Des Hai Mera''.
He has also ...
, Kader Khan
Kader Khan (22 October 1937 – 31 December 2018) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and film producer. As an actor, he appeared in over 300 Bollywood films after his debut in the 1973 film '' Daag'', starring Rajesh Khanna, as a prosecuting l ...
and Sujit Kumar). He was rarely portrayed (in movie roles) doing any "dirty work" himself, rather relying on his army of henchmen for the task, with zero tolerance for any failures. He always had a savvy female accomplice, usually named "Mona." Acting in over 200 films, he specialized in playing suave villains with memorable catchphrases delivered in now iconic Ajit-style nasal drawls such as "Mona, darling". Ajit also brought to fame the smuggler
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...
as the villain. In his movies, he is generally seen smuggling ''gold biscuits'' in or out of the country. It has also been noted that most of his gang members had Christian names like Robert, Michael and Peter. He pronounced "Robert" as "Rabbert." This also has been used for comic purposes in parodies
A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satirical or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can als ...
.[
It was the menacing voice he was most famous for. He is still remembered for bringing the most famous villains in the history of Indian cinema to life. His contemporaries include veteran actors like ]Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Cinema of India, Indian cinema and Theatre of India, theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himsel ...
, Amjad Khan, Pran and Prem Chopra
Prem Chopra (born 23 September 1935) is an Indian actor in Hindi films. He has acted in 380 films over a span of over 60 years.
Life and education
Chopra, the third of six children of Ranveerlal and Rooprani Chopra, a Punjabi Hindu family, was ...
. Some of his popularity in the present time is due to the innumerable jokes and parodies made on his famous lines by comedians.
Personal life
Ajit married three times. His first wife, whom he married after a brief love affair, was an Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...
and a Christian. The marriage was very short-lived and fell apart due to huge cultural differences and there were no children. Ajit married Shahida, a young lady of his own community and similar social background, in a match arranged by their parents in the usual Indian way. The marriage, which lasted till her death, was entirely harmonious and resulted in three sons, namely Shahid Ali Khan, Zahid Ali Khan and Abid Ali Khan.[ Ajit then married a third time, and the name of his third wife was Sara/Sarah. The actor Jayant (better known as the father of actor Amjad Khan) took the initiative to facilitate this marriage. Ajit has a further two sons by his third wife, named Shezad Khan and Arbaaz Khan.
Ajit had a strong friendship with actor ]Rajendra Kumar
Rajendra Kumar (born as Rajendra Kumar Tuli; 20 July 1927 – 12 July 1999), was an Indian actor who starred in Bollywood films. Starting his career in 1949, he appeared in more than 80 films in a career spanning over four decades. Kumar was on ...
. Apart from friendship, Ajit also credited Rajendra Kumar with advising and helping him to become a "leading villain" rather than a second-lead hero. Rajendra Kumar was instrumental in getting Ajit his first role as the villain in the film '' Suraj''.
Death and survivors
Ajit died of a massive heart attack on 22 October 1998 in Hyderabad, India at the age of 76.[ His colleagues in the film industry — leading personalities who have acted with him, grew up seeing him in Mumbai — expressed deep sorrow over his death. Earlier in 1981, Ajit went into retirement after he underwent a heart by-pass surgery in the United States.][
Well-known Indian writer ]Javed Akhtar
Javed Akhtar (born 1945) is an Indian screenwriter, lyricist and poet. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007, two of India's highest civili ...
, who scripted '' Zanjeer'', said: "Like Bachchan, Ajit found a new image as villain after Zanjeer. He started a new innings in his career though he was an established hero in the fifties. His villainy started a new trend. Here was a new villain who was soft-spoken yet forceful. We wanted to give a different image to villainy which matched the hero".
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajit
1922 births
1998 deaths
Male actors from Telangana
Indian male film actors
Male actors in Hindi cinema
20th-century Indian male actors
Indian people of Afghan descent