The stylish arch-villain
Someone once termed Hamid Ali Khan, known to the world as Ajit, as the Professor Moriarty of Hindi cinema. True enough, for underplayed villainy was Ajit’s forte. Dressed in exquisitely-tailored Western attire, Ajit’s soft, measured and nasal tones sent a chill down the spine of a susceptible audience member and the on-screen adversary.
In his three most celebrated evil turns-in Zanjeer as Seth Dharam Dayal Teja, in Yaadon Ki Baraat as the original Shakaal who wore different-sized shoes in his left and right feet and in Kalicharan as Loin (Saara shehar mujhe Loin ke naam se jaanta hai was his catchphrase), Ajit exuded sheer menace and the pattern was the same in his other films.
Yes, Ajit had his share of sympathetic and good-man roles, playing cops of various levels in Mr Natwarlal, Dharma, Shankar Shambhu et al and powerful positive essays in Mughal-E-Azam, Naya Daur, Andaz, Jigar and others. But his many blockbusters as villain - Suraj (1966), his first as a baddie, Jeevan Mrityu, Kahani Kismat Ki, Jugnu, Badla, Warrant, Charas and Karmayogi overshadowed his ‘noble’ deeds to the extent that they spawned a cult following that was to culminate in the Ajit jokes that continue their reign till today.
Unwelcome adulation
But very few are aware that Ajit considered this kind of adulation as his bad luck, for he approached his roles with complete seriousness and the firm belief that villains should have a certain mardangi (machismo). He considered all such humour a mockery of his efforts, but was paradoxically happy that during his lifetime, in a kind of perverted tribute, his own son, actor Shehzad Khan, spoofed him in the successful Andaz Apna Apna and other films.
It was as the Loin persona with now-famous appendages like Raabert and Mona Darling that colleague Jagdeep’s son Javed Jafferi took major steps to fame as a funnyman and even endorsed Maggi 2-Minute Instant Noodles and Parle Gluco biscuits. And today, Ajit jokes abound in every stage and television mimic’s repertoire.
Career decision
Hamid Ali Khan had his roots in a gypsy family of Pathans who migrated to Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjehanpur from Kandahar in Afghanistan. His grandfather later shifted to Andhra Pradesh, joining the forces and staff of the Nizam of Hyderabad. It is interesting to note that Ajit was born on January 27, 1922 and years later was to play the lead in a film titled 26 January.
Hamid grew up to be an average student, weak in English, but good at football and other games as well as dramatics in his Warangal college. Looking at the strapping young boy, his English professor suggested that Hamid join either the army or films. In an interview in the ’90s, Hamid had revealed that he had actually opted for the latter and shocked his dad, but was allowed to join films, negating the popular myth that he ran away to Mumbai and generated the ticket money by selling his textbooks.
The long haul
The usual struggle followed, but through the accompanying hardships, Hamid saved every penny, refusing to borrow as his family considered debt as degrading. The struggle itself was a revelation - for Hamid thought that he would find easy openings in the movies and never imagined that others were struggling to make it too! For four long years, he remained a junior artiste in short features made by Information Films, earning Rs 3 to 6 a day!
He then moved to lead roles in these one-reelers and shifted from Mohammed Ali Road to Mahim opposite Mumbai’s still-existing Paradise theatre. And that proved fortuitous for him, for he met Govindram Sethi, who promised him a film and soon signed him for Shah-e-Misr, a stunt drama, opposite Geeta Bose. Soon after, the muscular hero signed other films like Janampati, Hatimtai, Jeevan Saathi and Aap Beeti. K.Amarnath, who directed him in Bekasoor, suggested that the actor change his long name of Hamid Ali Khan to “something shorter”, and Hamid homed in on “Ajit”.
The big league
Among the 200-odd films that Ajit finally starred in, over 80 saw him in lead roles. Though he wasn’t too successful as a hero, he did enter the big league and did films with “all top heroines except Nargis and Nutan”. The list included names like Vanmala (Sikander, Chilman and Hatimtai), Khursheed (his first big name co-star in Tansen and later in Aap Beeti), Nalini Jaywant (Nastik, his only huge hit as a hero and several others), Madhubala (Bekasoor), Geeta Bali (Baradari), Suraiya (Moti Mahal), Kamini Kaushal (Bada Bhai), Meena Kumari (Halaku), Nimmi (Char Dil Char Raahen with an ensemble cast), the then-struggling Mumtaz and her sister Malika in Do Dushmun, Bina Rai (Marine Drive) and B. Saroja Devi (Opera House). Among his other leading ladies was Shakila in several films.
For such a tough and macho hero who was termed as the desi Clark Gable largely on a bit of facial resemblance and his pencil moustache, Ajit had quite a share of soft romantic songs like Aaja ke intezaar mein (Halaku), Agar main poonchoon (Shikari), Dekho mausam kya bahaar hai (Opera House) and Gagan jhanjhana raha (Nastik) besides Yeh desh hai veer jawanon ka (Naya Daur). As a character artiste he also had the popular Bacche mein hai Bhagwan in Nanha Farishta (wherein he played a reformed brigand) and a song in Karmayogi.
Ajit’s last film as a hero was Panic In Baghdad in 1966. It was around this time that top star Rajendra Kumar asked Ajit if he was keen to work in Suraj as the main villain. And the most successful phase of Ajit’s career began.
Family time
The Pathan with a liking for Urdu shaayari and shikar and a subtle sense of humour (he never stopped being amused at getting beaten on-screen by puny heroes!) first married a French girl named Gwen D’Monte in 1951, whom Ajit in his infatuation once described as an “exact replica of Ava Gardner”. Gwen left him after five years, after which Ajit’s father insisted that his son now marry a girl of his choice. And that girl, Shahida Ali Khan, proved his professional sheet-anchor and the proverbial woman behind the successful man. They had two sons, Arbaaz Ali and Shehzad Khan, who are both actors today. Ajit also married in hometown Hyderabad and has a son named Zahid Khan from his third marriage.
The Loin’s bonds
Ajit was a loner, with only few friends like the late director Kedar Kapoor. In the ’70s, Dharmendra and Hema Malini combined with Ajit to give hits like Jugnu, Pratiggya, Patthar Aur Payal and Charas together. He did several films with Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Dev Anand and Shammi Kapoor. It is well-known that Salim Khan (of Salim-Javed) was persuaded by Ajit to come down to Mumbai as he wanted to become an actor, and even given a break in Kabli Khan as Ajit’s younger brother. Later when Salim-Javed became big names as writers, Salim repaid his debt by giving Ajit his career-defining roles in Zanjeer and Yaadon Ki Baraat.
A break and a comeback
In the 1980’s, Ajit suffered a heart problem due to his heavy smoking and decided to quit films. He retired to Hyderabad, but began to miss the arc-lights and took his fans’ disappointment seriously. In 1991, he decided to make a comeback and signed the Jackie Shroff-Karisma Kapoor film Police Officer. Several other films followed. Though the lack of punctuality of stars upset him, he was also pleased with heroes like Jackie, Sanjay Dutt, Aamir Khan and Salim Khan’s son Salman Khan who were all thoroughly professional. His last releases were Mahesh Bhatt’s Criminal and Dev Anand’s Gangster, both in 1995. After that, he again went back to Hyderabad, where he passed away in 1998.
Remembering Dad
Behind every star resides a human being. Ajit’s elder son, actor Shehzad Khan (Andaz Apna Apna, Tom Dick And Harry et al) recalls a father he misses terribly.
“Dad was a strict father and my brother Arbaaz and I would be scared of him! He disliked our liking for kite-flying and the fact that we were not interested in football, of which he was very fond!
As kids, there would be weeks when we never saw him, for we would be sleeping when he came in and would not awaken by the time we left for school. I remember mom and both of us flying to his locations across the country on Friday nights to be with him over the weekends. And today I miss him terribly. Dad was not very happy with our choice of acting as a career because of the ups and downs of this profession. He would tell us that as actors, apne aap ko fanaa karna padta hain!
“Yes, I know that he hated being mimicked by others. But he was actually very happy that I did it as an actor because he felt that his legacy was being kept alive. I had a school-friend named Mustafa Eisa who would force to me to imitate dad, and I became quite good at it. In 1990, my friend Vinay Sinha launched his video film for T-Series, Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon, directed by Amjad Khan, whose father, the late Jayant, was Dad’s good friend, and starring Sachin. I imitated my dad as villain and the physical resemblance helped. Vinay promised to take me whenever he made a feature film, and kept his promise with Andaz Apna Apna, and director Rajkumar Santoshi himself was a hardcore fan of Dad too. Since the film was a hit, I have acted in the same style in many, but not all, of my films.”
