Like other comic geniuses before and after him, notably Charlie Chaplin and Robin Williams, Mehmood was a very sad man. His directorial debut Kunwara Baap was no joke. Mehmood’s love letter to his polio-stricken son, Kunwara Baap was a sob story that proved Mehmood to be as good as the grim reaper as the grin giver.
Mehmood in the opinion of a majority of movie buffs is a one-man institution. His comic virtuosity was such that leading men of 1960 when Mehmood ruled and peaked, began to shy away from sharing screen space with the comic virtuoso.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui , a huge Mehmood fan identifies closely with the legend. “They kept calling him a scene-stealer, so much so that big superstars began to get scared of being seen with Mehmood Saab. Something similar had begun to happen to my career also, so I quickly gravitated to playing the lead.”
Mehmood too switched to lead roles in the late 1970s in Kunwara Baap, Mastana, Lakhon Mein Ek and Ginny Aur Johnny. But these films did not really give Mehmood the creative freedom he had hoped for, despite some chartbuster music by Rajesh Roshan . In Kunwara Baap, as a rickshawallah who plays parent to an abandoned child Mehmood brought tears to millions of eyes. When he sang the lullaby Aa ri aa ja nindiya to his screen-son there was not a dry eye in the theatre. Whether combing his son’s hair or kissing his forehead Mehmood out-Nirupa Roy-ed all the screen mothers. Mehmood’s real-life son played his son in this sleeper hit.
Rajesh recalls how Mehmood introduced him to Lata Mangeshkar as “He’s just like my son”. That’s how Lataji agreed to sing the lilting lullaby Aa ri aa ja nindiya in Kunwara Baap. “Mehmood Saab was like a father to me. He treated me like he treated his own six sons.”
Rajesh Roshans is just one of the many super talents who owe their first break to Mehmood. Rahul Dev Burman too got his first big break courtesy Mehmood in Chote Nawab followed by Bhoot Bangla. This was at time when every producer was in awe of RD’s father Sachin Dev Burman and didn’t want to displease the senior Burman by signing the junior. Mehmood openly promoted RD and introduced him to producers as the composer of tomorrow.
In Bombay To Goa, which was said to be ghost-directed by Mehmood, Mehmood gave a break as the lead pair to Amitabh Bachchan and Aruna Irani . Mehmood nurtured both their careers. But eventually, his relations with both Bachchan and Irani soured and he felt let down by them.
Yesteryears’ screen queen Mumtaz speaks of how she got her first major break as a leading lady because of Mehmood. “Mehmood Saab was a Godlike human being. I’ve never come across anyone so helpful and so generous in my entire life. Do you know how I got to work as a leading lady opposite the great Dilip Kumar in Ram Aur Shyam? It was because of Mehmood Saab. He knew me well. We had done films together. Mehmood Saab recommended me to Dilip Saab. He pleaded with Dilip Saab to meet this young girl named Mumtaz who he said,is very beautiful and very talented. Dilip Saab readily agreed to meet me. He immediately agreed to cast me as his heroine in Ram Aur Shyam. I have never forgotten Mehmood Saab’s kindness.”
It wouldn’t be erroneous to state that Mehmood was to Aruna Irani what Guru Dutt was allegedly to Waheeda Rehman . When Aruna Irani first went to Mehmood for work, she was an emaciated reed-thin pale shivering girl; from no angle did she seem like a potential star. However, since she came from a very humble background and her father was a stage actor in Gujarati theatre Mehmood decided to play her mentor.
Mehmood groomed her from scratch, taught her the ropes of acting and how to talk walk and emote. The goodhearted comic star personally took Aruna Irani to producers, introducing her as the Next Big Thing. When no one seemed convinced he launched her as a heroine in Bombay To Goa opposite a semi-newcomer named Amitabh Bachchan .
Mehmood was the only producer who believed she could be a leading lady. Every producer offered her the second lead or the vamp’s part. Mehmood repeatedly cast her as the main lead, not only in Bombay To Goa but also Garam Masala (where she played the title role) and Do Phool. Failing to make the grade as a leading lady Aruna became a very popular comic pair with Mehmood throughout the 1970s.
It would be no exaggeration to say Mehmood was the prime architect of Aruna Irani’s career.
Sadly she now blames her long and very fruitful association with Mehmood as a hindrance to her career as a leading lady. If the truth be told, Aruna Irani never had a career as a leading lady. Mehmood was the only one who believed she could fill that slot.