Gul Hamid (1905-1936) was an Indian actor. He started his acting career in silent films and later played leading roles in talkies. He had many honors to his credit. He acted in ''

Heer Ranjha '' Ranjha'' () is a classical Punjabi folk tragedy with many historic poetic narrations; with the first one penned by Damodar Gulati in 1600s, on the preexisting oral legend; and the most famous one, ''Heer'', written by Waris Shah in 17 ...

'', the first film produced in Punjabi and in '' Seeta'', a talkie that won an honorary diploma in the 1934

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

and that was also the first Indian film shown at an International film festival. Hamid also wrote the script, acted in, and directed the film ''Khyber Pass'' (1936). Hamid died of

Hodgkin's Disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

in 1936.

Life

Gul Hamid was born in Pirpiai; nowshera, a village near the

Kabul River The Kabul River (; ), the classical Cophen , is a river that emerges in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part of Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. It is separated from the watershed of the Helmand River by th ...

in the North West Frontier Province of

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 ...

(now in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

). His father was Saif Ullah Khan. Gul Hamid Khan had three brothers named Abdul Hameed Khan, Gul Jamal Khan and Sayed Jamal Khan. Gul Hamid Khan was married to Patience Cooper (later Sabra Begum) from 1930–1936, one of the first early silent movie actors.

Film career

"Gul Hamid, a handsome young man from Peshawar, became an all-India celebrity when A. R. Kardar cast him in his hit movie. It is said that the movie industry never again saw an actor with Gul Hamid's looks". He made his film debut with '' Sarfarosh'' alias Brave Hearts in 1930, which was a silent movie made in Lahore & directed by A. R. Kardar. In 1931, his films '' Aatishe Ishq'' and''

Wandering Dancer Wandering may refer to: * Wandering (dementia) * ''Wandering'', a 2021 EP by JO1 * Wandering, Western Australia, a town located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia * Shire of Wandering, a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of ...

'' were released. Gul Hamid also had the honour of working in the first ever Punjabi feature film ''

'' released in 1932. This film was made in Lahore and directed by A. R. Kardar. In 1933, his film '' Yahudi Ki Ladki'' was released based on

Agha Hashar Kashmiri Agha Hashar Kashmiri ( born Muhammad Shah; 3 April 1879 – 1 April 1935) was an Urdu poet, playwright and dramatist. A number of his plays were Indian Shakespearean adaptations. Early life Muhammad Shah (Agha Hashar Kashmiri was his pen n ...

's play '' Yahudi Ki Larki''. Gul Hamid's film '' Seeta'', produced by East India Film Company & directed by

Debaki Bose Debaki Bose (1898–1971), also known as Debaki Kumar Bose, was an Indian director, writer, and actor who is recognized for his contribution in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. He was born on 25 November 1898 in Akalposh, (now East Burdwan), Bu ...

was the first talkie shown in an international film festival when it was shown in 1934 at the

, where it won an honorary diploma. His other films released in 1934 were '' Chandar Gupt'', '' Mumtaz Begum'', '' Sultana'' and ''

Night Bird Nightbird may refer to: * Strisores, a group of birds sometimes called "nightbirds" * Nightbird (song), "Nightbird" (song), a 1983 song by Stevie Nicks * "Nightbird", a 1975 song by Kalapana (band), Kalapana * "Nightbird", a song by SZA released o ...

''. 1935 was the rich year of Gul Hamid's career as many of his films were released in it. In '' Karwan-E-Hayat'' (a 1935 adventure film) and '' Bharat Ki Beti'' (1935), his heroine was Rattan Bai. His other notable talkies (films) in 1935 were '' Soteeli Maa'', '' Badruhi'', ''

Saleema Kaleeshwari Devi better known by her stage name Saleema is an Indian actress who predominantly acts in Malayalam film Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the M ...

'' and ''

Murderer Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

''. '' Yasmin'' was also released the same year, in which his name was Behram. Only three films are present on the record to be released in 1936 i.e., ''Sunehra Sansar'', '' Baghi Sipahi'' and ''

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...

''. ''

'' was the film in which he not only acted, but also wrote its script and directed it. He worked with his wife, Patience Cooper, in three films i.e., '' Baghi Sipahi'', ''Murderer'' (1935) and ''

''. After starting his film career from Lahore, he moved to Calcutta, where he worked in more than a dozen of silent films and talkies. Some of his films were made in Bombay too.

Personal life

Gul Hamid Khan was married to Patience Cooper (later Sabra Begum) from 1930–1936, one of the first early silent movie actors.

Death

He died in 1936 due to

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

Filmography

References

External links

# Academy of the Punjab in North America, COLUMNS by A.Hameed. http://www.apnaorg.com/columns/ahameed/column-38.html # # Most Rare Pictures of Gul Hameed https://www.flickr.com/photos/rashid_ashraf/32315944870/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamid, Gul 1936 deaths 1905 births Deaths from cancer in India Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma Hindkowan people Indian male film actors Male actors in Hindi cinema Male actors from British India People from Nowshera District 20th-century Indian male actors