Hyderabad: ‘Lion’ of villains Ajit’s birth centenary today

HYDERABAD: Film buffs and city heritage activists are all set to mark the birth centenary of legendary Bollywood villain Ajit on Thursday. Hamid Ali Khan, better known by his screen name Ajit, was born on January 27, 1922, in Golconda in Hyderabad.

He was perhaps the first actor from Hyderabad to reign Bollywood as its favourite villain, usually as a refined and soft-spoken boss with powerful one-liners. Few other actors are remembered like Ajit for his dialogue delivery in that famous baritone.

Deccan Heritage Trust managing trustee and historian Dr Mohammad Safiullah has formed a centenary celebrations committee with

Shahid Ali Khan

, son of the legendary actor, Jayesh Ranjan, senior IAS officer, M Veda Kumar of Deccan Heritage Academy and Zakir Hussain, educationist.

The celebrations will begin after offering prayers at his grave at Jamali Kunta graveyard near Golconda between 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm on Thursday.

Dr Safiullah demanded that a prominent road in the city be named after the actor.

The actor’s son Shahid Ali told TOI that ‘Ajit the Lion, a biography’, has also been published to mark the birth centenary.

“It is an exciting story that reveals several aspects of Ajit’s life that are not generally known to his fans. It also gives an insight into how a middle-class boy from Hyderabad attained success by overcoming several hurdles and hardships in life with perseverance, dedication and commitment,” he said.

Zakir Hussain said Ajit’s dialogues are memorable across generations and they are widely repeated even now.

“Smart Boy, Mona Darling, Sara Shaher Mujhe Lion Ke Naam Se Jaanta Hai, Michael, tum cycle par jao are some of the unforgettable dialogues in Bollywood history,” he said, adding that Ajit may have passed away on October 22, 1998, but his characters continues to inspire one and all.

Dr Safi said after his early education in Hyderabad and Warangal, Ajit went to Bombay (Mumbai) in the early 1940s to pursue a career in acting. He got a break in 1946 as a hero in the film Shah-e-Misr.

He had acted in around 200 films including the popular Nastik, Halaku, Guest House, Mughal-e-Azam, Naya Daur, Anand Mutt and Bada Bhai. He switched to villain roles with the film Suraj and never looked back with his unparalleled performances in Zanjeer, Kalicharan, Yaadon ki Baaraat, Ram Balram, Dharma and Barood.


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