“Wo Manzil kya jo aasani se tay ho, Wo rahi kya jo thak kar baith jaye”
~ Jagdeep Sahab in an interview
2020 is turning out to be pretty painful. I felt it when Sir Amitabh Bachchan Said in his tweet “One by one they all go away.” This year is not going well for our beautiful industry (Bollywood) as more than 15 celebrities have passed away.
Today I’m here to share my grief with you about the sad demise of the legendary comic actor Jagdeep, wildly famous for his role Soorma Bhopali in Sholay, and sharing his life story with you guys. Let us all pray for his pure soul and let us all pray for the wellbeing of everyone… We cannot afford any Let us all pray for his pure soul and let us all pray for the wellbeing of everyone… We cannot afford any more losses now.
Early Life
Born on 29 March 1939, Jagdeep moved to India from Pakistan after partition and settled in Mumbai (Bombay back then), India with his mother while his lawyer father stayed back there.
Being a child of a single mother in a stranger city was extremely difficult. His mother, whom he called the biggest inspiration of his life, used to work as a cook to earn living and pay for Jagdeep’s school.
But Jagdeep was unhappy by it. He wanted to work and help his mother, though his mother was against it. He convinced his mother and started to work in local shops. Sometimes he also made kites to earn his bread.
The Unexpected Turn
One day when he was working in local streets of Mumbai, a man came to him and asked whether he wanted to act in film. As a poor child he didn’t know what film is and he asked “what is film?”.
The man explained him a bit about it but he didn’t understand. Finally, he asked how much money he will get and the man answered 3 rupees. He agreed to do it.
On the sets, he was asked to play role of member of audience in a child’s play. But as the dialogue were written in Urdu, the actor who was playing the lead failed to recite them. Director asked the audience if anyone can speak Urdu, Jagdeep raised his hand and got 6 rupees for this job.
The Film was B.R Chopra’s Afsana and the man who asked Jagdeep for the job was Yash Chopra who was the assistant director of that film.
The Second & big role and his permanent entry to Bollywood
Jagdeep got his second and big role in Phani Majumdar’s Dhobi doctor where he played the role of young Kishore along with his costar Usha Kiran. He played the role so impressively good that Bimal Roy got so much impressed and gave him a role in his next big film Do Bigha Zameen where Jagdeep played a comic role. That’s where his comic journey begins.
From there Jagdeep played comic roles one after another continuously. He was one of the few actors who didn’t take any break from their work.
Jagdeep got wildly famous for his legendary character role of Surma Bhopali in the film Sholay and his most famous and loved film was Bhabhi.
Jagdeep’s back to back roles in Films
After a rocket launch in this industry Jagdeep played roles in various films including:
- Footpath
- Do bigha Zameen
- Nokari
- Aar paar
- Hum panchi ek daal ke
- Do dilon ki dastan
- Do bhai anmol moti
- Khilona
- Bhai ho to aisa
- Wafa
- Insaniyat
- Bidayi
- Rani aur laal pari
- Khan dost
- Ek hi rasta
- Dulhan wahi jo piya man bhaye
- Aiyan
- Swarg
- Jaani dushman
- Kaaliya
- Khoo aur paani
- Sanam teri kasam
- Karishma
- Pyar ki jeet
- Shehnshah
and the list goes on and on. Summing up to more than 225 films including his cameo in Salman Khan’s Andaz Apna Apna in which he played Salman’s father. That’s an unbelievable amount of hard work right there.
The End
Jagdeep was facing age-related health issues as he was in his early 80s. He left us with his sweet memories on July 8, 2020, at 8.30 PM at his residence in Bandra, Mumbai. The same city where he came with his mother just to live a decent life where he can earn his daily bread and keep his mother happy. Who knew this city was waiting for him with such a great glory on his name. we’ll remember him for his legendary comic roles and for his warm human nature. May his soul Rest in Peace.
