Jankidas Mehra (1910 – 18 June 2003) was an Indian actor of

Hindi cinema 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 ...

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

production designer In film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Work ...

, and writer. He made over 1000 film appearances between the 1930s and 1997.

Biography

Sports

Although various press articles in India mention Jankidas as being a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

at the 1936 Olympic Games and being the only Indian to have broken the world record in cycling between 1934 and 1942, the

India at the 1936 Summer Olympics India competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Medalists Gold * Richard Allen, Dhyan Chand, Earnest Cullen, Ali Dara, Lionel Emmett, Peter Fernandes, Joseph Galibardy, Mohomed Hussain, Mohammed Jaffar, Ahmed Sher Khan, ...

page does not mention him. Nor do any IOC or Cycling records mention his name. In the 1940s, along with Sohrab Bhoot, he founded the Cycling Federation of India.

Films

Jankidas debuted in films playing a major role in '' Khazanchi'' (1941), produced in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. He was not seen again until 1946, when he would appear in '' Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani''. From then on he would continue to play roles with increasing vigour over the years. As a production designer, Jankidas was responsible for the founding of many famous Indian actor's careers. He was responsible for

Madhubala Madhubala (born Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi; 14 February 1933 – 23 February 1969) was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films. She is considered as one of the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema. One of the country ...

's role in

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'', '' ...

's '' Daulat'' in 1947, and introduced

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Known as "The Tragedy Queen", she is regarded among the finest and greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinem ...

Nanabhai Bhatt Nanabhai Bhatt (12 June 1915 – 24 April 1999) was an Indian film director and producer who worked in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Gujarati cinema. He is known for making over a hundred fantasy and mythological films, including ''Mr. X'' (1957), ' ...

's '' Hamara Ghar'', and

Khushbu Khushbu Sundar (born Nakhat Khan; 29 September 1970) is an Indian politician, actress, film producer and television personality. She is known for her work predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil language films and in a few Telugu cinema, Telugu ...

Sunil Dutt Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Raghunath Dutt; 6 June 1929 – 25 May 2005) was an Indian actor, film producer, director, and politician known for his work in Hindi Cinema. He acted in more than 80 films over a career spanning five decades and was t ...

's '' Dard Ka Rishta''. He also introduced actress

Mala Sinha Mala Sinha (born Alda Sinha; 11 November 1936) is a former Indian actress who mainly worked in Hindi, Bengali films. Initially starting her career with regional cinema, she went on to become a top leading actress in Hindi Cinema in the 1960s a ...

in Hamlet, produced and directed by

Kishore Sahu Kishore Sahu (22 November 1915 – 22 August 1980) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He appeared in 22 films between 1937 and 1980, and he directed 20 films between 1942 and 1974. His directorial ven ...

. In 1985, he wrote the script for the film '' Yaadon Ki Kasam''. Jankidas was the recipient of numerous national and international awards. In May 1996, he was honored with the

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

given by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association. Jankidas was also an author and wrote numerous books on Bollywood and the acting profession. He published '' My Misadventures in Filmland'' and ''Acting for Beginners''.

Selected filmography

Death

Jankidas had a heart ailment for a substantial period of time, but was discharged from the local hospital two days before his death. He died of cardiac failure at his Juhu residence on Wednesday 18 June 2003. He was 93.

References

External links and sources

* {{Authority control Indian male film actors Indian production designers 1910 births 2003 deaths Indian male cyclists