Mehmood Death Anniversary: 5 Lesser Known Facts About India's Most Loved Entertainer

Mehmood, the name itself brings a smile on our face. We laughed with him when he danced on 'Hum kaale hai', cried with him like a crazy person in Kunwara Baap and felt quite angry at him in Padosan for keeping Bindu away from Bhola. He did all these roles with dollops of comedy and that's why Mehmood is irreplaceable. What he did is yet to be done by anyone - add gravity and character to the role of a comic actor. Before they were just infused to give comic relief in movies, Mehmood's roles were part of the narrative, something that took the story forward and were not stop-gap arrangements. No wonder that producers used to jump on a movie that had this in the credits 'And Mehmood.' The man breathed his last this day in 2004 in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. Thursday Throwback! When a Young Anil Kapoor and Lucky Ali Played Step-Brothers in a Sanjeev Kumar, Rakhee Gulzar Film

On his death anniversary today, let us tell you 5 interesting facts about Mehmood we bet you aren't aware of.

#An actor and a driver

Mehmood used to support a family of seven brothers and sisters. He debuted as a child actor in Kismet (1943) but also did odd jobs to care for his family. He was the driver of PL Santoshi, father of Rajkumar Santoshi. Kishore Kumar and he would walk to Filmistan studio.

#More than the heroes

Anwar Ali, his brother, told Filmfare that Mehmood used to be paid more than even the heroes. "If the end credits of the film read, ‘And Mehmood’, distributors would pounce to buy it. He was paid more than heroes, around seven and a half lakhs for 14 days of shooting," he recounted. Rajshri Production for their first film Aarti (1962) created a special role for him.

#Gregory Peck's compliment

Hollywood actor Peck was in Mumbai at Mehboob studios when he met Mehmood. Anwar Ali recounts, "He couldn’t help remark, “You’re too handsome for a comedian!”

#A man of expensive hobbies

Ali mentions in the Filmfare interview that Mehmood had a thing for classy cars. "He loved cars and at one point he owned a fleet of 24 cars including a Stingray, Dodge, Impala, MG, Jaguar and others. He had an in-house mechanic named Austin. He’d ask him to paint the car to match the colour of the suit he was to wear for an event. It didn't matter if he had to spend around a lakh to colour it! He’d even match his shoes with the colour of the car." He also adds how Mehmood had given him a Jaguar which his girlfriends loved and so did Amitabh Bachchan's. The latter has always credited Mehmood for having faith in him in the initial years when others didn't. Mehmood used to love shopping in London and would pick different colours of a single piece if it catches his fancy.

#Once a Mahesh always a Mahesh

Mehmood believed in all faiths and religions. He was named Mahesh for the first time in Sasural and he decided to stick to it as it was the name of Lord Shiva.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2020 08:50 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).