December 18th, 2010

Mehboob Khan – The Turning Point

R.G. Torney, the general manager of Imperial Film Company, took a liking to the God-fearing young man and tried to give him as many opportunities as possible. Though Mehboob had been facing the camera for three years, he was hardly noticed, not even by himself! However, a film called Shirin Khusru changed his destiny overnight. For a particular shot outside the palace of the Maharaja of Dharampur, where the shooting of the film was on, Mehboob and his fellow-’extras’ were to face the camera on horseback. One of them had to gallop towards the camera, stop, rear and then ride away. The director, R.S. Choudhary, had earmarked the confident Mehboob for the ‘important’ task. Mehboob rode the horse that belonged to the Maharaja and had the reputation of being wild and unpredictable. It had, apparently, thrown several riders off its back in the past. During the shot, the horse came galloping towards the camera and reared aggressively in an attempt to throw Mehboob off its back before galloping away. All through the act, Mehboob clung on valiantly and the camera captured the historic moment brilliantly without missing out on Mehboob’s expression. “At last,” wrote Mehboob years later, recalling that incident, “by the grace of Allah and the whim of the horse, I got my first close-up!” Ardeshir Irani, who watched he rushes a few days later, was highly impressed by the shot and asked the director who the brave boy was. When told that it was their own Mehboob, the big man at once summoned him and announced a raise of Rs 10 in his salary. Mehboob had finally won his first nod of recognition. It paved the way for him getting more important roles.

When Ardeshir Irani launched a new production company in 1931 called Sagar Movietone in partnership with two other stalwarts, Chimanlal B. Desai and Dr Ambalal Patel, as a subsidiary of Imperial Film Company, Mehboob was transferred to the new set-up as head of production. The same year came Sagar’s first talkie (in the wake of Ardeshir Irani’s Alam Ara, the first ever talkie in India, produced under the banner of the Imperial Film Company). Entitled Romantic Prince, the film had Master Vithal and Zubeida in the lead. (Incidentally Zubeida had played the lead in Alam Ara as well.) Directed by Prafulla Ghosh, Romantic Prince gave Mehboob his first ‘speaking’ role. Though, as the heroine Zubeida’s younger brother, his destiny was to be constantly flogged by the villain, Yakub! However, it was in Sagar Movietone’s Vengeance is Mine that Mehboob first made a real impression as an actor. His effective performance as the father of the heroine, Sabita Devi, got him another raise of Rs 10. The role had come his way accidentally when a theatre actor, who had been originally chosen to play the role, proved inadequate. His performance in Nautchwali, where he co-starred with Jaddanbai and Yakub, took him another step further. But his long-cherished dream of being a ‘hero’ was still far away!

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