Yakub Khan Mehboob Khan
| Yakub | |
|---|---|
.png) | |
| Born |
Yakub Khan Mehboob Khan 1904 Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Died |
1958 (aged 53–54) Bombay, Maharashtra, India |
| Cause of death | heart attack |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1924–1958 |
Yakub Khan Mehboob Khan, known as Yakub,[1] was an Indian Hindi film actor born into a Pathan family in 1904 in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.[2] He died in 1958 after a career spanning thirty years in the film industry.[3] He is best known for his comedic villainous roles.[4] He commenced his career as an extra but soon did roles as a hero and later as a villain. He became one of the most renowned screen villains, while achieving equal success in comedy and character roles.[5] Yakub appeared in over 300 films.
Early life
Yakub ran away from home at an early age doing odd jobs like motor mechanics and waiting tables before joining the ship ‘S. S. Madura’ as a kitchen worker. He left the ship after travelling to various places like London, Brussels and Paris then returned to Calcutta where he worked as a tourist guide among other jobs. He finally came to Bombay now Mumbai, around 1924 and joined the Sharda Film Company.[6][7]
Career
During his travels, Yakub watched the films of Hollywood actors and became greatly influenced by Eddie Polo, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Wallace Beery and later by Humphrey Bogart.[8] Yakub's first film was Bhalji Pendharkar's silent Bajirao Mastani (1925) which also starred Master Vithal. It was produced by the Sharda Film Company. His first talkie was Meri Jaan (1931) with Sagar Movietone and directed by Prafulla Ghosh, where he played the title role of the Prince. This film has also been credited as Romantic Prince. The film had Master Vithal, Mehboob Khan and Zubeida co-starring in it.[9] His enactment of the role of an angry resentful son in Mehboob Khan's Aurat (1940) made him popular to the extent that his acting in this film is considered as one of the finest performances in the Indian Cinema.[10][11] The role was later performed by Sunil Dutt in Mehboob Khan's famous remake of his own film with the new title Mother India (1957). Yakub's popularity in those days can be gauged by the credit roll of films like the S K Ojha directed Hulchul (1951), which had a star cast of Dilip Kumar, Nargis, Sitara Devi and where his name was preceded by '…and your favourite Yakub'.
Yakub was an 'acknowledged master(s) of comedy' along with other actors like Johnny Walker, Gope and Agha but their vast talent was unused which was a 'gross injustice' according to the B. K. Karanjia co- edited book, Genres of Indian Cinema.[12] His comic pairing with Gope and Agha was well-liked by the audiences and this had the film makers use their combination in several films. Prominent of which were Sagai (1951), Patanga (1949) and Beqasoor (1950) with Yakub and Gope .[13] Yakub, Prithviraj Kapoor and Chandra Mohan were in the highest pay bracket of their times.[14] The triumvirate of Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, and Raj Kapoor, who held reign in the Indian film industry from the late 1940s to the end of 1970s, has been compared to Chandra Mohan, Yakub and Shyam, who were at the top of the acting roster from 1930 to early 1950.[15]
Director
Yakub directed three films, Sagar Ka Sher, and Uski Tamanna in the 1930s, and Aiye in 1949. Sagar Ka Sher or Lion of Sagar, was the first film he directed as early as 1937 under the Sagar Movietone banner. His co-stars in this film were: Bibbo, Pesi Patel, Sankatha Prasad, Raja Mehdi and David. The music director was Pransukh M. Nayak. Uski Tamanna also known as Her Last Desire was made in 1939 under Sagar and directed by Yakub. The film starred: Yakub, Maya, Bhudo Advani, Kaushalya, Sankatha Prasad, Satish and Putli. The Music was composed by Anupam Ghatak.[16] He directed his third and last movie Aiye in 1949 under the Indian Production banner. It had Sulochana Chatterjee, Masud, Jankidas, Sheela Naik, Ashraf Khan along with Yakub. The music in this film was composed by Nashad (Shaukat Dehlvi) and was Mubarak Begum's first film as a playback singer. Yakub's brother Allaudin was the song recordist for this film. However, he lost money on this film and called it the biggest mistake of his life.[17]
- When Mehmood was a struggling artist, he would hang around Bombay Talkies waiting for Yakub to arrive. Yakub knowing his financial state would give him one or two rupees in the form of loose change.[18]
- Yakub was a deeply religious person and was called Maulana by his friends.[19]
Death
Yakub died in Bombay, Maharashtra, India, at the age of 54 years.
Filmography
Yakub acted in over 300 films in a career covering 34 years. A brief filmography is listed.[20]
| Year | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Bajirao Mastani | Bhal G. Pendharkar |
| 1927 | Gulzar | Nanubhai Desai |
| 1928 | Chandravali | Begum Fatima |
| 1930 | Nai Roshni | Bhagwati Mishra |
| 1931 | Meri Jaan (Romantic Prince) | Prafulla Ghosh |
| 1932 | Bulbul-E-Baghdad | Nanubhai Vakil |
| 1933 | Miss 1933 | Chandulal Shah |
| 1935 | Al Hilal (Judgement of Allah) | Mehboob Khan |
| 1936 | Do Diwane | Chimanlal Luhar |
| 1936 | Grama Kanya (Village Girl) | Sarvottam Badami |
| 1936 | Manmohan | Mehboob Khan |
| 1937 | Sagar Ka Sher (Lion of Sagar) | Yakub |
| 1937 | Milap | A. R. Kardar |
| 1938 | Teen Sau Din Ke Baad (300 Days and After) | Sarvottam Badami |
| 1938 | Watan | Mehboob Khan |
| 1939 | Uski Tamanna (Her Last Desire) | Yakub |
| 1940 | Aurat | Mehboob Khan |
| 1943 | Aabroo | Nazir |
| 1943 | Najma | Mehboob Khan |
| 1944 | Lal Haveli | K. B. Lall |
| 1945 | Zeenat | Shaukat Hussain Rizvi |
| 1946 | Nek Parvin | S. M. Yusuf |
| 1947 | Samaj Ko Badal Dalo | Vijay Bhatt |
| 1949 | Aiye | Yakub |
| 1949 | Patanga | H. S. Rawail |
| 1950 | Beqasoor | K. Amarnath |
| 1951 | Hulchul | Shubh Karan Ojha |
| 1954 | Waris | Nitin Bose |
| 1957 | Ab Dilli Dur Nahin | Amar Kumar |
| 1957 | Paying Guest | Subodh Mukherjee |
| 1958 | Adalat | Kalidas |
| 1958 | Ten O'Clock | Jugal Kishore |
References
- ↑ Stars of The Indian Screen-by Sushila Rani Baburao Patel Parker and Sons 1952
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema, edited by Gulazara, Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee. Yakub pg.638 Popular Prakashan 2003
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Bollywood –Film Actors by Renu Saran Yakub (Diamond Pocket Books Private Ltd.) 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014
- ↑ Eena Meena Deeka: The Story of Hindi Film Comedy by Sanjit Narwekar 2005 Rupa ISBN 81-291-0859-3
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema, edited by Gulzar, Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee. Yakub pg.638
- ↑ Stars of The Indian Screen-by Sushila Rani Baburao Patel Parker and Sons 1952
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema, edited by Gulzar, Govind Nihalani, Saibal CEncyclopedia of Hindi Cinema, edited by Gulzar, Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee pg. 638
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema, edited by Gulzar, Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee pg. 638
- ↑ CITWF-Film database home-film information Meri Jaan (1931)
- ↑ Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema edited by Gulazar, Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee. Yakub, pg 638
- ↑ cineplot.Yakub-interview
- ↑ Genres of Indian Cinema edited by B. K. Karanjia, pg 82. Digitized 26 April 2008. Original from The University of California
- ↑ Eena Meena Deeka: The Story of Hindi Film Comedy by Sanjit Narwekar 2005 ISBN 81-291-0859-3
- ↑ Other Side of the Coin: An Intimate Study of Indian Film Industry by Madan Gaur pg. 29 Trimurti Prakashan retrieved 14 April 2014
- ↑ Other Side of the Coin: An Intimate Study of Indian Film Industry by Madan Gaur pg. 75 Trimurti Prakashan ISBN 81799 10660
- ↑ CITWF Database-Yakub
- ↑ Yakub Interview (conducted in 1954) from Cineplot. Retrieved 8 April 2014
- ↑ Mehmood, A Man of Many Moods by Hanif Zaveri pg. 43 Retrieved 8 April 2014 Popular Prakashan 2005 ISBN 8179912132
- ↑ Yakub Interview (conducted in 1954) from Cineplot
- ↑ CITWF Database-Yakub http://www.citwf.com/person444181.htm