Mehboob Khan

Mehboob Khan

AN "EXTRA" WHO ROSE TO BE A MOVIE MOGHUL AND A FRIEND OF PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
( ON HIS 56TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY)

Circa 1929. Outdoor shooting of Ardeshir Irani’s silent film “Shirin Khusru”. Location was the palace grounds of Dharampur, a princely state in the pre independence India.

From among the huge crowd of ‘extras’ gathered around, the director R S Choudhury was looking for a man to ride a horse and bring it to an abrupt halt before the camera. The director cast his eyes on a shabby and sturdy looking, swarthy complexioned young man brimming with confidence.

Choudhury knew this ‘extra’ was ‘the’ man who could do the risky shot. Ater exchange of a few words, the ‘extra’ did the stunt exactly the way it was needed. The shot was taken, the negatives were sent for developing and printing and finally the bosses take a look at the rushes only to be stunned by the amazing feat of this unknown ‘extra’.

Ardeshir Irani elicits more information on the ‘ _chhokra_ ’ and is told that he was none other than the ‘boy’ introduced by Irani’s railway guard friend as a good rider and then employed as an ‘extra’.

In the years to come, that ‘ _chhokra_ ’ and ‘boy’, who appeared as an ‘extra’ in a couple of films of Irani, went on to become Mehboob Khan, the Filmmaker ‘ExtraOrdinaire’!

Ardeshir Irani, the Father of Indian Talkie, considered Mehboob for the role of the prince for his film “Alam Ara”. Being the first talkie film and a fantasy film with lot of fights and stunts, Irani signed Master Vithal as the hero, the biggest stunt star of the silent era.

Mehboob came from an impoverished family involved in horse shoe business in Bilimora, Gujarat. And he would travel ticketless from Bilimora to Bombay, spend nights at the Grant Road station and try his luck at becoming an actor at Irani’s Imperial Films.

Mehboob’s journey from an ‘extra’ at Imperial Films and then at Sagar Movietone (which was started as an offspring of Imperial) to a filmmaker ‘ExtraOrdinaire’ is simply inspiring and fascinating. Between 1927 and 1930, he was seen as an ‘extra’ in Imperial’s silent films like “Alibaba and Forty Thieves”, “Shirin Khusru” and a few others. Thereafter, between 1931 to 1934, he did small roles of varied types in films of Sagar (later under the control of the two partners Chimanlal Desai and Ambalal Patel) like “Veer Abhimanyu”, “Romantic Prince”, “Bulbul-e-Baghdad”, “Chandrahas”, “Mahabharat”, “Mirza Sahiban”, “Premi Paagal”, “Grihalaxmi”, “Naachwali”, “Sati Anjani”.

Mehboob was not content doing these films; his interest was in doing something beyond this. He would listen to scripts of aspiring writers who came to Sagar, give unsolicited but valuable suggestions, give some dramatic twists and turns and, at the end, contribute something significant to the story. Because of his humble background, disagreeable looks and lack of education, none gave a serious thought to his latent talent or his potential except Faredoon Irani, the studio’s cameraman. Irani had taken a liking for Mehboob from the beginning.

Mehboob would write his own scripts and he was too eager to venture into direction. He would express his desire to Faredoon Irani who was confident about his prodigy, a genius in the making. He would frequently ask Irani to speak to the bosses who would just brush aside his request saying “what can be expected of an illiterate fellow; how can he write scripts and direct a film; he has no experience of anything; he works as an ‘extra’ and let him continue with that…”

Irani tried his best to convince the bosses and went to the extent of taking personal responsibility for what Mehboob would shoot on trial basis. He staked his salary if the bosses were not happy with the end results. Such was the confidence and conviction of Irani. And, Mehboob didn’t let down his God Father!

Finally, the bosses agreed, Mehboob read out the story written by him, assembled his stars and went about shooting. He was all charged and shot for three days (time given to him for shooting) and showed the rushes to the bosses. Chimanlal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel (the partners of Sagar) and few other key persons of the studio watched the rushes with bated breath and by the end of it, they were dazed and amazed, excited and exhilarated. They had discovered a great director in the ‘extra’ whom they rebuked and ridiculed. The green signal was given and Mehboob was all set to take up the director’s mantle.

Inspired by the Father of Cinematic Spectacle, Cecil DeMille’s “The Sign of the Cross”, Mehboob wrote his script and titled the film *The Judgement of Allah*. He had an ensemble of stars working under him: Kumar, Yakub, Sitara, Indira, Azurie and others. Music was by Pransukh Nayak. And, of course, Faredoon Irani was the cinematographer.

Working ceaselessly day and night, Mehboob wrapped up the shooting in five months with the outdoor scenes shot in Hyderabad. And, finally the film was made, released and it went on to become a huge hit. In years to come, the creation became bigger than the creator.

The film and its spectacular success was a testament to Mehboob’s conviction, dedication, perseverance and talent bestowed from the heaven by Allah!

Mehboob’s next for Sagar was *Deccan Queen* (1936) and the film marked the debut film of Surendra as an actor-singer. The Bombay based Sagars presented Surendra as an answer to the Calcutta based New Theatres’ Saigal. Even the song 'Birha ki aag lagi more mann mein' composed by Pransukh Nayak and sung by Surendra was on the mould of Saigal’s 'Baalam aaye baso more mann mein' from “Devdas”.

It was Anil Biswas who helped Surendra come out of the Saigal syndrome and create a distinct identity for himself as a singer. And Mehboob Khan veered his promising career to become one in the Trinity of the Turbulent Times; the other two singer actors who formed the Trinity were Saigal and Ashok Kumar.

The other major film of Sagar directed by Mehboob was *Manmohan* which was a bigger hit than *Deccan Queen*. The story, screenplay, dialogues and songs were written by Zia Sarhady. *Manmohan* was ‘inspired’ by New Theatres’ “Devdas” and had a similar storyline; in fact, some branded it as a ‘poor man’s “Devdas”‘. But, with Mehboob’s midas touch and showmanship, the film went on to become a massive hit.

The film starred Surendra and Bibbo in the lead and had music by Ashok Ghose. The song 'Tumne mujhko prem sikhaaya' sung by the lead pair became immensely popular.

The success of *Deccan Queen* and *Manmohan* consolidated the position of Mehboob as a director of great stuff and also put Sagar on a higher pedestal. In the years to come, it was a clear case of the ‘creation’ becoming bigger than the ‘creator’!

Following the success of *Judgement of Allah*, *Deccan Queen* and Manmohan”, Mehboob Khan made yet another super hit film *Jagirdar* for Sagar. The film had an impressive ensemble of popular actors of the time: Motilal, Surendra, Maya Bannerji, Bibbo, Yakub, Bhudo Advani.

*Jagirdar* was a slick murder mystery film on the lines of Hitchcock’s thrillers. And though Surendra and Motilal were of the same age (both born in 1910 within a gap of a month), they played father and son respectively to the hilt without any awkwardness or discomfiture. With the success of the film, Mehboob consolidated his position as versatile director of great reckoning.

After associating as a ‘music arranger’ in *Manmohan*, Anil Biswas came to give music independently for *Jagirdar* and many other films of Sagar that followed. The film had popular songs like: ' _Nadi kinaare baithke aao_ ' (Motilal and Maya Bannerji) and ' _Pujari more mandir mein aao'_ (Surendra and Bibbo). The film established the successful teaming of Surendra ~ Anil Biswas ~ Mehboob just like “Aradhana” (1969) inaugurated and established the successful teaming of Rajesh Khanna ~ Kishore Kumar ~ R D Burman ~ Shakti Samanta.

After *Jagirdar*, Mehboob made three more films in 1938 and 1939: *Hum Tum aur Woh*, *Ek Hi Raasta* and *Watan* and all the three were hits. All the above films of Sagar had their inhouse actors like Kumar (of Zindabad ae mohabbat zindabad fame) Surendra, Motilal, Bibbo, Maya Bannerji, Sitara (kathak danseuse), Yakub, Buddo Advani (of Lapak jhapak fame). These films introduced actors like Sheikh Mukhtar, Kanhaiyal, Aroon (father of Govinda), Jyoti (aunt of Nimmi) among others.

In 1940, Mehboob made a fantasy film *Alibaba* with Surendra in a double role of Alibaba and his son Jaffer. Because Ardeshir Irani’s film “Alibaba and Forty” thieves had been the first film in which Mehboob was put in the crowd of ‘extras’, his own film *Alibaba* for the Sagars made him nostalgic and sentimental. And he took the Muhurat shot at Ardeshir Irani’s Imperial studios where he started his career. Irani was so touched by Mehboob’s gesture, that he embraced him and allowed him to shoot the entire film at his studio.

Mehboob was a devout Muslim and a God fearing man. Being the month of Ramzan, he fasted during the day time and after breaking the ‘roza’ in the evening, he shot the entire film in the night time. The film was made in Hindi and Punjabi and went on to become a big box office success. The film had music by Anil Biswas and had the first song in waltz rhythm ‘ _Hum aur tum aur ye khushi_ ’ by Surendra and Wahidan bai (mother of Nimmi).

The same year. Mehboob made yet another masterpiece and that was *Aurat* . The film was inspired by Pearl Buck’s classic novel ‘The Good Earth’ and a film by the same name was made. Mehboob saw the film at Bombay’s Metro Talkies with his trusted and erudite writer Babubhai Mehta who soon came up with the script. Mehboob discussed the subject with his close associates like cameraman Faredoon Irani, chief assistant Chimankant Gandhi and the bosses of Sagars: Chimanlal Desai and Ambalal Patel. And set out to make the classic with an ensemble of stars: Sardar Akhtar (who was a struggling dancer artiste and who had made her debut in Mehboob’s *Alibaba* and whom he eventually married) in the title role, Surendra, Yakub (as her two sons), Kanhaiyalal and others like Jyoti, Harish, Aroon and Vatsala Kumtekar.

During the making of the film, the partners of Sagar joined hands with Yusuf Fazalbhoy of RCA to form National Studios. And the film was made and released under the newly formed banner.

*Aurat* was a touching saga of sacrifice, struggle, sufferings and survival of a woman to raise her children singlehandedly and fight the cuning and greedy money lender. The role was played by Sardar Akhtar and her character was metonymic representation of an ideal and self sacrificing Hindu woman of high moral values.

The film was a big success and had authentic folk based music by Anil Biswas. Mehboob made the film again in 1958. The film was titled *Mother India* and starred Nargis in the title role and Rajendra Kumr and Sunil Dutt as her sons in the roles originally played by Surendra and Yakub respectively. Kanhaiyal was cast again as the lecherous money lender and he fitted the role to the hilt.

After the success of *Alibaba* and *Aurat*, Mehboob directed two more films for National Studios viz. *Behan* which introduced Sheikh Mukhtar and Nalini Jaywant as brother and sister and *Roti* with Chandramohan, Sheikh Mukhtar, Sitara, Akhtari Faizabadi (who later shot to fame as the Ghazal Queen Begum Akhtar), Kanhaiyalal among others. Both the films had music by Anil Biswas.

In 1942, National Studios was taken over by one Keki Mody who rechistened the studio as Central Studios. And in the ‘chawl’ behind the studio, Mehboob Khan formed his iconic Mehboob Productions. The banner was visually represented by the communist ‘hammer and sickle’ combination which symbolised the struggle worker that Mehboob was. He had his own adversaries and rivals and, with them in mind, Mehboob came up with an apt and cryptic couplet penned by the famous Urdu writer Agha Hashr Kashmiri:

‘ _Muddayi laakh bura chaahe to kya hota hai,_

_Wohi hota hai jo manzoor-e-khuda hota hai_ ’

*Mehboob Productions*

The first film made under the banner was *Taqdeer* in which he introduced the 13 years young Nargis as the heroine opposite an aging Motilal.

Other films which followed were :

*Najma*, a Muslim social set in the backdrop of Muslim culture, rituals and traditions starring Ashok Kumar, Veena, Sitara, Yakub, Kumar;

*Humayun*, a spectacular historical with a strong message of the Indo~Islamic synergy starring Ashok Kumar, Veena, Nargis, Shahnawaz, Chandramohan, K N Singh;
A filmmaker of the caliber of Cecil DeMille, the father of cinematic spectacle and Mehboob's _Dronacharya_ praised him lavishly for his labour of love (copy of the letter dated 21 May, 1947 appended for evoking nostalgia. Courtesy: Shri Bunny Reuben, the _Pasha_ of Publicity)

*Anmol Ghadi* a musical romantic triangle starring Surendra, Noorjahan and Suraiya;

*Elaan*, again a Muslim family social starring Surendra and Munavvar Sultana;

*Anokhi Ada* yet another romantic musical starring Surendra, Naseem, Prem Adib and Nawab;

*Andaz*, a post independence era's modern and musical romantic triangle starring Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Murad and V H Desai;

*Aan*, a spectacular and magnificent adventurous costume drama starring Dilip Kumar, Nimmi, Nadira (her first film), Premnath, Mukri;

*Amar* , a sensitive romantic triangle starring Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Nimmi, Jayant, Ulhas, Mukri;

*Mother India*, a classic rural epic on India starring Nargis, Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Kanhaiyalal, Mukri, Kumkum, Chanchal, Azra and Master Sajid;

*Son of India* starring Sajid, Kumkum, Kamaljeet and Kanhaiyalal.

When Mehboob made his films right from Sagar’s “Deccan Queen” to his own Mehboob Production’s “Mother India”, Mehboob and his team of director, cameraman, recordist, assistants, spot boys, light and sound boys, extras as well as the top stars worked exactly in the same manner and travelled together by the same bus without discrimination because Mehboob himself had risen from the grass root level. Even the food that they carried to far off locations was shared by the stars, technicians and assistants with no preferential treatment to stars. They spread the rugs on the ground, sat cross legged, chatted and laughed and there was good camaraderie between them.

Towards the latter part of his career, Mehboob took the responsibility of the affairs of the film industry and virtually fought for its cause and tried to bring in some order and discipline into the chaos it was in. Large hearted and magnanimous that he was, he organised huge gatherings followed by sumptuous dinner for his fraternity. And, because he had risen from a mere ‘extra’ and reached the top through severe hardships and struggle, patience and perseverance, dedication and sincerity, he empathised with the problems of all concerned at all levels.

Over the years, Mehboob had become very friendly to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Mehboob had succeeded in getting Nehru to preside over the function to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Indian Talkies in 1956. At the function, Mehboob made an extremely complimentary and flattering speech in Nehru’s honour and concluded the speech on a highly emotional note: “ _Tu mera mehboob hai! If you live, I live; If you die, I die_ !”

Strangely, prophetic words they turned out to be. Jawaharlal Nehru died on 27 May, 1964 and, on hearing the news, Mehboob was shocked beyond words; he became terribly upset and was inconsolable. And the following day, in the early hours, at about 2 am or so, Mehboob too succumbed to brain haemorrhage and passed away at the Nanavati Hospital.

Mehboob’s fascinating journey from a mere ‘Extra’ to a filmmaker ‘ExtraOrdinaire” is highly incredible and truly awe inspiring!!

God fearing and a devout Muslim that he was, till the last he believed in the couplet:

_Muddayi laakh bura chaahe to kya hota hai,_

_Wohi hota hai jo manzoor-e-khuda hota hai_

...but his tragic end was certainly not the way God willed but the way he willed!!

*Manohar ' Mohabbat' Iyer*

PS:
You don't stumble upon your heritage. Its there, just waiting to be explored and shared!!

Where others see old streets, I see Roman legions on the march 🤗;

Where others see buildings, I see who built them 🤗;

Where others see fields, I see ancient battlefields 🤗

(PRESENTED BY ALI PETER JOHN)