In the history of cinema from any part of the world no actor has been as closely associated with role as Amjad Khan with Gabbar Singh in Sholay. Cinebuster team give a special tribute to one of the India’s legendary actor on his 26th death anniversary
Amjad Khan was born in Hyderabad on 12th November in 1940 to legendary actor Jayant. He was an acclaimed Indian actor and director. He was an macho actor with brown eyes, black hair. He worked in over 130 films in his film career spanning nearly twenty years. He enjoyed iconic popularity for his villain roles in Hindi language films — he is most famous for playing the role of the dacoit Gabbar Singh in Sholay (1975). He did schooling at St. Theresa’s High School, Bandra. He attended R D National College, Bandra for further studies.
He was the brother of fellow actor Imtiaz Khan. In 1972, he married Sheila Khan, and the following year, she gave birth to their first child, Shadaab Khan, who has acted in a few films. He also has a daughter Ahlam Khan and son Seemaab Khan.
Before Amjad came to films he was a theatre actor. His first film was as a child artist at the age of 17 in the film Ab Dilli Dur Nahin (1957). He had assisted K. Asif in the film Love and God in the late 1960s and had also made a brief appearance in the film which would have been his official adult film debut. But the film was left incomplete after K. Asif’s death in 1971 and it ended up releasing in 1986.
His first major break was Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973). But the role that immortalized him forever was that of Gabbar Singh in Sholay. Sholay happened in 1975 and catapulted him to the status of a star. Arre 0 Samba, Kitne Aadmi The?, Tera Kya Hoga Kaalia?, holi kab hai kab hai holi?, “jo dar gay ,samjho mar gaya”, “yeh hath hamko de de Thakur” are couple of the most popular lines of Bollywood mouthed.
His used to love songs ,His favourite singer was R.D. Burman and favourite actors was Amitabh bacchan and madhubala as he got married in 17th august 1972to his childhood friend Shehla khan at the age of 11 he played as an child artist in film Nazneen (1951)and when he played the role of Gabbar he was just 35 years old
The movie “Sholay” is one of the all time blockbuster movies in India and one of the highest earners, and although the movie had a cast of superstars including Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra the most memorable character was considered to be that of Gabbar Singh. Amjad Khan later appeared in advertisements as Gabbar Singh endorsing Britannia biscuits, and it was the first incidence of a villain being used to sell a popular product.
After the success of Sholay, Amjad Khan continued to play villain roles in many subsequent Hindi films in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.
Due to the Sholay impact; he got the opportunity to act opposite Amitabh Bachchan in many movies in the heydays of the latter.”Parvarish”, “Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin”, “Aakhri Goli”, are some of his movies of 1977. Similarly, in 1978 came such big successes as “Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan”, “Muqadar Ka Sikander”, “Kasme Vaade”, “Heeralal Pannalal”,”Khoon Ki Pukaar”, etc.
Amjad Khan was also acclaimed for playing many other unconventional roles. He appeared in the critically acclaimed film. Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977) directed by Satyajit Ray. In 1988 he appeared in the Ivory Merchant’s English film The Perfect Murder as an underworld don..
In 1979, Amjad Khan played, Vikram, a notorious smuggler that drives Amitabh Bachchan (Natwarlal) to unscrupulous ways. “Hum Tere Aashique Hain”,”Chambal Ki Kasam”, “Suhaag”,”Bombay 405 Miles”,”Kaatil”, “Kalia”,” Teesri Aankh”, the list is very long. To sum it up there was hardly a block-buster in the late seventies and early eighties that didn’t have Amjad Khan as the chief negative protagonist. He often acted as villain opposite Amitabh Bachchan as the hero.
He played positive role opposite Amitabh Bachchan in “Yaarana” (1981) where he played Bachchan’s character’s best friend and also in “Laawaris” where he played Bachhan’s father. In the art film “Utsav” (1984), he portrayed Vatsayana, the author of the Kama Sutra.
In 1988 he appeared in the Merchant-Ivory English film “The Perfect Murder” as an underworld don. He also played comic characters in films such as “Qurbani”(1980) and “Chameli Ki Shaadi” (1986). In 1991, he again played Gabbar Singh in “Ramgarh Ke Sholay”, a parody of the legendary film which also included a look-alike of Amitabh Bachchan and Dev Anand.
He also ventured into directing for a brief period in the 1980s directing and also starring in “Chor Police”(1983) and “Ameer Aadmi Gareeb Aadmi” (1985) but both films failed to do well at the box office.
Amjad Khan was also the recipient of the prestigious National Awards on a number of occasions, including for portraying Wajid Ali Shah. Besides other recognitions, Amjad Khan was conferred the Filmfare Award on numerous occasions for the best villain.
In 1976, he had met with a near fatal accident on the Bombay-Goa road, when he drove his car to a tree while trying to avoid a boulder. The drugs administered to him for treatment caused a serious weight problem for the rest of his life. As. a result of his increasing weight he died in 1992 after suffering from a heart failure at the age of 51.
Several of the films like In Custody (1993) and Do Fantoosh (1994) that he had completed when he was alive were released after his death in 1996.
SHADAAB AMJAD KHAN
Amjad Khan, my father and best friend, passed away on 27 July, 1992, as suddenly as he had shot to the status of a legend as Gabbar Singh, after the release of Sholay.
A very big producer of the time had entrusted the task of directing a mega budget multi starrer filled with superstars, to a first time rookie director. So, needless to say, all the stars of the film were doing exactly as they pleased – arriving 5-6 hours late for the shoot, changing dialogues at will and even writing their own scenes, with absolutely no regard for the director’s authority. He never forgot even for a moment that a certain legend by the name of Amjad Khan was big enough to deliberately abase himself, so that a new-comer would be respected and taken seriously. Now, that’s class.
Another incident that I can never forget, took place just a few months before his passing.Dad and I were at an auditorium one evening for an awards function organised by a charitable foundation. There were just a handful of film stars, along with well known personalities from various other professions, and the odd politician. One of the actors in attendance, sitting at a considerable distance from us, was an upcoming young hero whose debut film hadn’t released until then. So needless to say he was going unrecognised, which obviously made him feel uncomfortable and out of place.
The only person who caught on to the young actor’s low self esteem was dad, who decided to help him out. So, whenever someone from the audience approached dad for an autograph, he would oblige, then subtly point in the direction of the newbie and tell the autograph seeker, “You may not know that young man today, but in a couple of years time, he will be a superstar and very difficult to approach, so take his autograph right now while you can”. By the time the evening came to an end, the young actor had signed more than a hundred autographs, and was beaming from ear to ear, looking decidedly better.
How Amjad Khan filled the doorway?
He was not a particularly large man, but his lumbering gait, thickset face and curly hair gave him the appearance of one.
From the low angle, Amjad loomed larger. Something clicked. ‘He had an interesting face,’ says Ramesh. ‘I felt very positive.’
The actor had to have both talent and charisma to hold his own against the galaxy of stars. Bad casting could destroy the film.
How did he manage to do Sholay?
He was asked to grow a beard and come back. Meanwhile, Ramesh and Salim-Javed pondered. Salim-Javed were convinced that Amjad was the right choice.They shot pictures in the office garden. Amjad had grown a beard and blackened his teeth.His diction was right, his language was perfect. He was confirmed for the role.
Amjad hurried ecstatically to hospital to break the news to wife Shaila. The date was September 20, 1973.His son Shadaab was born that afternoon.Amjad devoured Abhishapth Chambal, a book on Chambal dacoits written by Jaya Bhaduri’s father, Taroon Coomar Bhaduri.He marked out the pages on the real-life Gabbar, insisting that Shaila read it too.
He remembered a dhobi from his childhood who used to call out to his wife: ‘Arre o Shanti.’ The lilt in Gabbar’s ‘Arre o Sambha’ came from this dhobi.The morning Amjad was to leave for Bangalore, he put the Quran on his head and prayed.As abruptly as he had started, he stopped. He placed the holy book back in its place, ‘I think I’ll be able to do it,’ and drove to the airport.
