Amjad Khan is remembered mainly by Sholay, which is akin to remembering Dilip Kumar only by Devdas.
Amjad Khan was only 51 when he passed away on 27 July 1991 of a sudden heart attack…Or was it heartbreak? A teetotaler, philanthropist and generous to a fault, Amjad was a fakir by nature. The film industry was never very fair to this versatile son of the super-versatile actor Jayant. Amjad’s father too never got his due. The only memorable role I remember Jayant in is Raj Khosla’s Do Raaste.
Amjad is remembered mainly by Sholay, which is akin to remembering Dilip Kumar only by Devdas. Amjad gave many remarkable performances, and not just in villainous roles. He was a riot as a goofy nawab in Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khiladi, and as a comic cop in Feroz Khan’s Qurbani….not to mention Yaaraana where he matched strides with his buddy Amitabh Bachchan and what about Prakash Mehra’s Muqaddar Ka Sikandar where he played Rekha’s unwanted suitor so passionately?
Amjad had to struggle really hard to get a place in the film industry. Sholay came to him only because Danny Denzongpa turned down the role. Danny’s dates were committed to Feroz Khan for Dharmatma. Amjad fought tooth and nail to get the role. It was his do-or-die chance to make it big. At that point of time, Amjad was so broke he didn’t have the money to get his wife discharged from the hospital after their first son Shadaab was born. It was director Chetan Anand, in whose Hindustan Ki Kasam, Amjad was seen in a bit role, who paid the princely amount of Rs 400 before Mrs Amjad Khan was allowed to go home.
Amjad’s son Shadaab told me this story years ago. Shadaab couldn’t find a place in Bollywood. Not one of Amjad’s friends helped the boy’s career.
Amjad had hit rock bottom when Gabbar came to him. It changed his life, and not entirely in a good way. He became so closely identified with the role that he would be called out as Gabbar Singh at public functions. In a way, it was flattering to be known by the name of a character on screen. It proved the actor owned the role. But then the role also owns the actor.
I personally think Amjad Khan was far more accomplished as the effete Nawab in Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khiladi. It is disturbing to note that Ray’s two leads Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan both died young and of heart attacks. Ray was not sure if Amjad would be able to pull it off after playing Gabbar. But once the shooting started, Ray knew he had made the right decision. Amjad also sang a Thumri in his own voice in Shatranj Ke Khiladi.
When in the middle of the shooting Amjad had a near-fatal car accident Ray refused to replace Khan. He waited patiently for Amjad to recover. The recovery was slow and it took its toll on Amjad’s health. He could not do strenuous exercise thereafter and grew overweight. The roles became random and often an insult to his talent. There were exceptions, like Shashi Kapoor’s Utsav where Amjad played Vatsayana, the author of Kamasutra with enormous gusto. In Kumar Gaurav’s debut film Love Story Amjad was a hoot as a police constable. In Yaaraana he was every bit the Bachchan buddy.
There are many theories as to why the Bachchan-Amjad friendship ended. Some say it was because Amjad was set to direct Lambayee Chaudayee with himself and Bachchan in the lead when the project was called off. Years after Amjad Khan’s untimely death Amitabh Bachchan played Gabbar Khan in Ram Gopal Varma’s remake of Sholay. Amjad’s son Shadab predicted it would be a disaster. He was right.
No one can encore Gabbar Singh. Not even Amjad Khan.
Sholay director Ramesh Sippy has this to say on Amjad Khan being synonymous with Gabbar Singh. “You say the character become a burden for Amjad to carry for the rest of his career. But wasn’t it a beautiful burden?”
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.
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