Kader Khan: Massy actor-writer who engineered commercial cinema's biggest hits
New Delhi, Jan 1: More than 300 films on, Kader Khan was always more than the sum of his roles, the consummate multi-hyphenated Bollywood artiste for those who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s on a staple diet of commercial films that either featured him or were penned by him.
Engineer-scriptwriter-actor-dialogue writer, Khan, who died in Toronto at the age of 81 before he could see the dawn of a New Year, was all these and more.
Khan was that rare film personality who was equally important on screen and off screen with about 300 roles as an actor and writing credits in over 250 films.
Before he slipped into the skin of his characters on screen playing the buffoon, controlling father and villain in a range of films good and bad -- Khan took his first tentative steps in Bollywood as a back-end writer giving shape to storylines.
The Kabul-born Pathan started his career as a professor of civil engineering before being pulled into the world of showbiz as a writer.
Khan was famously spotted by screen legend Dilip Kumar while he was performing in a play at his college's Annual Day function.
It was the era of grand commercial films and the romantic hero of the 1960s and the early 1970s was already ceding ground to the 'angry young man', embodied by Amitabh Bachchan.
In 1972, he made his debut as a writer with the Jaya Bhaduri-Randhir Kapoor teen romance "Jawani Diwani", still remembered for its music and its portrayal of young love.
Khan went on to deliver some of Bollywood's best written screenplays and whistle-worthy dialogues in blockbuster films such as "Amar Akbar Anthony" and "Shola Aur Shabnam".
He stepped in to help shape Bachchan's career after Salim-Javed, who wrote "Zanjeer" and "Sholay", went their separate ways in 1982.
It was Khan who gave Bachchan some of his career's biggest hits with memorable dialogues and writing in a series of films, "Sharaabi", "Lawaaris", "Muqaddar Ka Sikandar", "Naseeb" and "Agneepath", for which the megastar won his first Best Actor National Film Award in 1991.
Khan and Bachchan were the thread that tied rivals Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra.
The civil engineer-turned-hit writer also helped cement Govinda's career with his sharp dialogue and screenplays in "Coolie No 1", "Raja Babu" and "Saajan Chale Sasural". The troika of filmmaker David Dhawan, actor Govinda and actor-writer Khan produced a number of hit comedies, including "Hero No 1" and "Dulhe Raja".
All the while, Khan was also acting in a variety of films.
In 1973, a year after he wrote "Jawani Diwani", Khan made his acting debut with Rajesh Khanna-Sharmila Tagore's "Daag" in the supporting role of a prosecuting attorney.
He established his presence as an actor with roles in "Dil Diwana", "Muqaddar Ka Sikandar" and "Mr Natwarlal" before evolving as a performer with impeccable comic timing.
There was scarcely any potboiler from the 1990s that did not feature the actor Khan -- "Kishen Kanhaiya", "Bol Radha Bol", "Aankhen", "Coolie No 1", "Hero No 1", "Dulhe Raja", the films were many.
As an actor, he will be remembered for striking a balance between comedies and dramas, sometimes exploring the grey side.
Some of his stand-out performances are as the old Sufi who guides a lost child in "Muqaddar Ka Sikandar", the Yamraj who gets tricked by a human in "Taqdeerwala", the greedy employee who kills his boss in "Khoon Bhari Maang", the Type-A controlling father in "Hero No 1" and the epic Duggal sahab who, on some days, is blind, deaf or speechless in "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi".
Khan was a two-time recipient of the Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue for "Meri Awaaz Suno" (1982) and "Angaar" (1993). He also won the Best Comedian Filmfare for "Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri" (1991).
As the years rolled by, the roles dwindled.
His last appearance on screen was in 2017 in the forgotten film "Masti Nahi Sasti". Before that, he was seen in "Tevar" (2015).
He never officially retired but, in his own words, was somewhat lost in oblivion.
"Some people refused to keep me with them. I was a little unwell. And people refused to take me back into their films," Khan said at the trailer launch of his comedy "Hogaya Dimaagh Ka Dahi" in 2015.
He had started keeping unwell by then.
He said he wanted to make a comeback as a writer and could tell that there was a "difference in the level of writing".
"As a writer, I feel that I should come back. I'll try my best to bring the earlier 'zubaan' (language) back and people are definitely going to enjoy talking in that 'zubaan'," he told reporters.
The starry lights of Mumbai were no longer appealing and some years ago, the actor moved to Toronto to be with his son.
And on the final day of 2018, he slipped into a coma in far away Toronto, never to wake up.
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Congress chief Kharge writes to PM Modi, seeks time to explain party's 'Nyay Patra'
New Delhi, Apr 25: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought time from him to explain in person the party's 'Nyay Patra'.
In his two-page letter, he told the prime minister that he is being misinformed by his advisors about things that are not even written in the 'Nyay Patra' -- the Congress' manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections.
The letter comes after the prime minister attacked the Congress over its manifesto, alleging that the party aims to "redistribute the wealth" of people and give it away to "infiltrators".
Modi also accused the Congress of snatching women's "mangalsutra".
In his letter, Kharge said the Congress' 'Nyay Patra' aims at providing "nyay (justice)" to the youngsters, women, farmers, labourers and marginalised people across all castes and communities.
"It has become your habit to seize on a few words taken out of context and create a communal divide. You are lowering the dignity of the chair by speaking in this manner," he said.
"You are being misinformed by your advisors about things that are not even written in our manifesto. I would be more than happy to meet you in person to explain our 'Nyay Patra' so that, as prime minister of the country, you don't make any statements that are false," he added.
The Congress chief also said he is neither shocked nor surprised by the language used by the prime minister in his recent speeches.
"It was expected that you and other leaders from your party would start speaking in this manner after you saw the dismal performance of the BJP in the first phase of the elections," Kharge said in the letter.
The Congress has been talking about the deprived poor and their rights ("nyay"), he said and added, "We are aware that you and your government do not have any concern for the poor and dispossessed."
"Your 'suit-boot ki sarkar' works for the corporates whose taxes you reduced while the salaried class pays higher taxes. The poor pay GST even on food and salt and the rich corporate claim GST refunds. That is why, when we talk of inequality between the rich and the poor, you are purposely equating it with Hindu and Muslim," Kharge claimed.
"Our manifesto is for the people of India -- whether they are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain or Buddhist. I think you have still not forgotten your pre-Independence allies the Muslim League and colonial masters," he charged.
Kharge claimed the Congress has always served to empower the poor while "you have ruled to snatch the earnings and wealth of the poor".
He said in the letter, "Your government was the one who used demonetisation as an 'organised loot and legalised plunder' to transfer the money deposited by the poor in the banks to the rich in the form of loans. Then, as part a of conscious design, these loans were surreptitiously written off by your government. The lakhs of crores of corporate loans that your government has written off since 2014 is a transfer of wealth from poor to rich. No farmer's loans, artisan's loans, MSME loans or student loans were waived off by you."
"You and your government have repeatedly turned away from the atrocities that the poor and backward women are facing … Today, you talk about their 'mangalsutra'. Isn't your government responsible for the atrocities against women in Manipur, against Dalit girls, garlanding of rapists? When farmers are committing suicide under your government, how are you protecting their wives and children?," Kharge asked.
The Congress chief suggested that Modi read about "Nari Nyay" that, he said, the party will implement when its comes to power.
Kharge also advised the prime minister to not "get carried away by your own people who are clapping at your speeches".
"They are not allowing you to hear the crores of right-thinking citizens who are disappointed by your speeches," the Congress chief said.
Sharing Kharge's letter on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge ji has just written to the prime minister, saying that he would be happy to meet him to explain the reality of the Congress' 'Nyay Patra', which Mr Modi may have missed in his persistent efforts to distort and defame it."
कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष मल्लिकार्जुन @kharge जी ने अभी प्रधानमंत्री को पत्र लिखकर उनसे मिलने का समय मांगा है। प्रधानमंत्री #CongressNyayPatra पत्र की जिन चीज़ों को लेकर भ्रम फैला रहे हैं और लोगों को गुमराह करने की नाकाम कोशिश कर रहे हैं, उन्हें खरगे जी प्रधानमंत्री को मिलकर सही अर्थों… pic.twitter.com/7D4Mk085je
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 25, 2024
