Sholay's 'Soorma Bhopali' Jagdeep dies at 81
Mumbai: Veteran actor Jagdeep, whose paan-stained grin and mischievous eyes as Soorma Bhopali in Sholay made him popular across generations, died on Wednesday at his residence. He was 81.
The actor had not been keeping well, producer Mehmood Ali, a family friend, told PTI. "He passed away at 8.30 pm at his residence in Bandra. He was not keeping well because of age-related issues," Ali said.
Jagdeep will be laid to rest at a cemetery in south Mumbai around 11.30 am on Thursday, he added.
The last of the comic icons in the tradition of seniors Johnny Walker and Mehmood, the actor had a prolific career that lasted beyond 400 films and many memorable roles.
Jagdeep, whose real name was Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jafri, started his journey in cinema with the 1951 film "Afsana", which marked filmmaker BR Chopra's directorial debut.
It was a riches-to-rags story for child Jagdeep, whose family's fortunes declined after his father's death and the Partition. In interviews, he recalled how his mother, once used to servants and other luxuries, raised him while working as a cook in an orphanage.
Young Jagdeep was eager to help her and at the age of six or seven, he landed on the sets of "Afsana" after being spotted on the streets of Mumbai.
The role promised him three rupees as fee, which was doubled when the young actor got to mouth a dialogue.
Recalling his father's journey in cinema, his actor son Jaaved Jaaferi once said Jagdeep was destined to be a part of show business. "My father was a child when he was looking for a job after Partition. When someone asked him if he wanted to work in films, he said all he needed was a job. He was chosen from the streets to star in a film as a child actor. He was destined to be in the industry, it was fate," Jaaferi had told PTI in a recent interview.
After Afsana, Jagdeep kept picking up big and small roles with directing greats like KA Abbas in "Munna", Guru Dutt in "Aar Paar" and Bimal Roy in "Do Bigha Zamin".
He graduated to a lead star over the years with "Bhabhi" and "Barkha" but it was Shammi Kapoor-starrer "Brahmachari" in 1968 that started him on his journey as a comedian, whose comic timing, big smile, unique voice and facial expressions made his presence mandatory in films thereafter.
Jagdeep had a prolific career, but it is his role as Soorma Bhopali in the 1975 blockbuster "Sholay" that became truly iconic thanks to the Bhopali lilt in the Salim-Javed dialogue, "Hamara naam Soorma Bhopali aisei nahi hai". The role became so popular that 'Soorma Bhopali' became a second screen moniker for the actor.
Though pigeonholed in comedic roles, Jagdeep knew how to make people smile through his performances be it the mainstream Bollywood movies, Ramsay Brothers' horror film "Purana Mandir" or in cult comedy "Andaz Apna Apna" where he played Salman Khan's father, Bankelal Bhopali, perhaps a hat-tip to his "Sholay" role.
Actors Ajay Devgn, Manoj Bajpayee, Ayushmaan Khurrana, Sanjay Mishra, Johnny Lever and director Hansal Mehta took to social media to pay tributes to the great artiste who made everyone laugh with his roles. Devgan, who worked with Jagdeep in his 1991 Bollywood debut "Phool Aur Kaante", said he "always enjoyed watching" the senior actor on screen.
"He brought so much joy to the audience. My deepest condolences to Jaaved and all members of the family. Prayers for Jagdeep Saab's soul," he added.
"Thank you for all the memories that I have watching your films and performances in my childhood!! You will be missed by us all!! Condolences to the family!" said Bajpayee.
Lever, a famous comedian himself, remembered his first film "Ye Rishta Na Toote" in which he faced the camera with Jagdeep.
"We will miss you. May his soul rest in peace. Our prayers & deepest condolences to the family," he tweeted.
Mehta said the veteran actor will always be "cherished and remembered with a broad smile". "I hope people get to see a film called 'Muskurahat' by Priyadarshan sir to witness his brilliance. It is one of my favourite Jagdeep saahab performances," the director said.
Khurrana said Jagdeep's contribution to the industry will always be remembered. "Thank you for the laughs. Thank you for the memories," he added.
"I love lots of movies because of you Jagdeep sir but I don't like how you left us today #SoormaBhopali, you devoted (your) whole life to Hindi cinema. You are #Kaamyaab," said Mishra.
Jagdeep also directed the movie "Soorma Bhopali" with his character as the protagonist.
He is survived by sons - actor Jaaved and producer Naved.
His grandson Meezaan made his debut as an actor with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's production "Malaal" last year. In an interview with PTI recently, Meezaan had called his grandfather a "Diwali firework".
"He is so much like how you see him on screen: fun, energetic and positive. I had a lot of conversations about the film industry with my grandfather, who would tell me stories, his experiences of film shoots more than my father did," the actor had said. Jagdeep is gone but for countless fans he will forever be Soorma Bhopali, the raconteur of amusing stories.
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Excise policy case: HC gives more time to Kejriwal, Sisodia to respond to ED plea to expunge remarks
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted time till April 2 to former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others to respond to a plea by the Enforcement Directorate to expunge "unwarranted" remarks made against it by the trial court while discharging them in the liquor policy case.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma expressed displeasure over the request for more time by the lawyers appearing for Kejriwal and other accused, and said it would fix a date for final hearing in the matter during the next hearing on April 2.
"I don't know why you are not filing a reply. You should have filed a reply if you think you really needed to file a reply. They are only saying judge should not have written something that he has written."
"By second (of April), you file your reply. Then we will fix a date for final hearing," the judge said.
The Enforcement Directorate's counsel said there was no need to file replies to its petition and that this was an attempt to delay the case.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for ED, contended that the agency's petition has no impact on the accused, as the challenge was limited to the trial court judge's observations against the agency when it discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and others in the CBI case.
The counsel for one of the accused said a brief reply was necessary and time was needed for it as the discharge order was 600 pages long.
Justice Sharma remarked that the ED's case has nothing to do with all 600 pages.
"Here is a prosecuting agency which has stated that the judge exceeded jurisdiction. I told them even I make such observations. I need to deicide it but you said I need to file a reply. Now you say 600 pages have to be read," the judge observed.
Raju also urged the court to direct that the observations of the trial court would not be relied upon by the accused in related proceedings. "It is a short date. Let them reply," the court responded.
On March 10, the court had asked Kejriwal and others to respond to the ED's plea.
In the petition, ED said the trial court's remarks were wholly extraneous to the CBI's case. It said the ED was neither a party in those proceedings nor afforded any opportunity to be heard.
"If such sweeping, unguided, bald observations are permitted to stand ... grave and irreparable prejudice would be caused to the public at large as well as the petitioner," the ED plea said.
"Therefore, the aforesaid paragraphs which concern the investigation independently conducted by the Enforcement Directorate under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) deserve to be expunged as it amounts to a clear case of judicial overreach...," it added.
On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and others in the Delhi liquor policy case, pulling up the CBI by saying that its case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny and stood discredited in its entirety.
The trial court ruled that the alleged conspiracy was nothing more than a speculative construct resting on conjecture and surmise, devoid of any admissible evidence.
To compel the accused to face the rigours of a full-fledged criminal trial in the stark absence of any legally admissible material did not serve the ends of justice, it said.
In its order, the trial court highlighted that a procedure permitting prolonged or indefinite incarceration based on a provisional and untested allegation risked "degenerating into a punitive process" and raised a "concern of considerable constitutional significance" where individual liberty was "imperilled" by invoking the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
It said the issue assumed heightened significance where an accused was arrested for the offence of money laundering and thereafter required to surmount the stringent twin conditions prescribed for the grant of bail, resulting in prolonged incarceration even at the pre-trial stage.
It further said that despite the settled legal position that the offence of money laundering cannot independently subsist and requires the foundational edifice of a legally sustainable predicate offence, the prevailing practice revealed a disturbing inversion.
Underlining that the objective of PMLA was undoubtedly legitimate and compelling, the trial judge mentioned that statutory power, however wide, could not eclipse constitutional safeguards.
