Sheikh Mukhtar (24 December 1914 12 May 1980) was a film actor active in India and later in Pakistan. A tall and manly figure, who stood slightly under , Sheikh Mukhtar played a variety of film roles, from leading roles in many of

Mehboob Khan Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan (9 September 1907
at filmreference.com. – 28 May 1964) was a pr ...

's productions to characters roles later on, mostly the roles of villains.

Early life

Sheikh Mukhtar was the son of Chaudhry Ashfaq Ahmed, who was a railway police inspector and was born in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, British India; now

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# ...

. Chaudhary Ashfaq Ahmed intentionally got transferred and migrated to Delhi. Sheikh Mukhtar was born on 24 December 1914 in Delhi. He had spent his childhood years in ''Choodi Waalan Gali'' (near Jama Mosque, Delhi) and received education at an Anglo-Arabic school, Ajmeri Gate, Delhi. His father wanted his son to join the Police or Army, but Sheikh Mukhtar was keenly interested in theatre. One of his neighbours from his area started working in a theatre company, so Sheikh Mukhtar also moved to

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

and joined the company.

Career

India

Sheikh Mukhtar got his break with Mehboob Khan's '' Ek Hi Raasta'' (1939), earning a lead role in his first movie, and would play the lead in numerous later Mehboob Khan movies. He starred in several lead roles throughout the 1940s, and by the 1950s, he expanded his contributions to cinema by founding his own production company, ''Mukhtar Films''; among his box-office successes was the film ''Mr. Lambu'' (1956).

Pakistan

Mukhtar had produced ''

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan (21 September 192623 December 2000) was a Pakistani playback singer and actress who worked in both British India and later in Pakistan's cinema of Pakistan, cinema. Her career lasted over six decades, during which she recorded 10,00 ...

'' (1967), a Hindi movie, with hopes for it to be a 'hit' like ''

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 ...

'' (1960), but his movie flopped badly in India, which in turn disappointed him and he was heartbroken and probably this made him leave India for Pakistan. And along with him, he took the original prints of film ''Noor Jehan'' which, unfortunately for him, only got released in Pakistan twelve days after his death in 1980, but it became a 'hit' film there. In the movie he played the supporting role of Sher Afghan Quli Khan, the first husband of Queen

Nur Jahan Nur Jahan (; 31 May 1577 – 18 December 1645), born Mehr-un-Nissa was the twentieth wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Jahangir. More decisive and proactive than her husband, Nur Jahan is considered by certain historians to have be ...

Final years and death

After migrating from India to Pakistan in the late 1960s, he settled in Karachi, Pakistan. After some years there, he suffered a cardiac arrest on his flight from Lahore to Karachi and died in Karachi on 12 May 1980.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* *Films of Sheikh Mukhtar

br /> Male actors in Hindi cinema 1914 births 1980 deaths {{India-film-actor-stub People of Punjabi descent Muhajir people