Remembering comedian Jagdeep on his birth anniversary

We lost the comic virtuosity of Jagdeep, real name Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jafri, two years ago. His role as Soorma Bhopali in Ramesh Sippy Sholay became both the milestone and the millstone of his career. Soorma Bhopali almost became Jagdeep’s alias. Years after Sholay his character in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Andaz Apna Apna was named Bankelal Bhopali. Jagdeep who came from Indore to Mumbai when he was 9 years old and slept on the streets with his mother, also directed a film called Soorma  Bhopali  in 1988. Though Jagdeep’s well-wishers in the industry like Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha and Dharmendra made guest appearances in the film, it flopped. Jagdeep had first appeared on the screen as a winsome child artist in films like Do Bigha Zameen and Aar Paar. As a young man, he played highly emotionally charged and dramatic roles in films like Bhabhi, Patang, Puran Milan , etc. Comedy was his second successful innings. Speaking on the role of Soorma  Bhopali that defines Jagdeep’s career  Javed Akhtar who co-wrote Sholay says, “Soorma Bhopali could not have been played by anybody other than him . He worked hard on the Bhopali accent and got it perfect. His comic timing was very good but I rue the fact that he wasn’t given an opportunity to do more emotional and dramatic roles too. Great talent is sadly underused.” Sholay director Ramesh Sippy recalled how Jagdeep Soorma Bhopali had to be edited out of Sholay on release. When Sholay was released there was a state of Emergency in India. Sholay was 3 hours  24 minutes long. Even if the first show began at 8.30 am the last show could get over only by midnight. Those were uncertain times. Plus, the trade experts had slammed Sholay in the opening week and declared it a flop. Back then films opened in ‘B’ and ‘C’ centers after they played in ‘A’ centers.  So before Sholay could release in Punjab the film’s distributors Rajshri Productions went to Ramesh Sippy and very politely asked me if we could shorten the film. They therefore, decided to take out the comedy tracks with Asrani and Jagdeep. But when the film was released there was an outcry about the cuts, so they had to restore them. Jagdeep’s Soorma Bhopali act became one of the main selling points of Sholay.It became Jagdeep’s big-ticket attraction at live concerts and on-stage performances. When Salim-Javed wrote the character it was only meant to be a comic diversion, a warm-up before Jai and Veeru reaches the Thakur. Little did they know what impact the character would have on the audience. Many would like to remember Jagdeep not only as Soorma Bhopali in Sholay (1975) but also as Badriprasad Chaurasia in Priyadarshan’s Muskurahat (1992). Recalling the experience of directing Jadgeep in Muskurahat Priyan says, “What I still remember vividly about him is that he would actually listen to my directorial instructions and then give the shot. A lot of actors just pretend to listen.  Not him. He was on it fully.” A lot of movie buffs believe Jagdeep’s performance in Muskurahat to be on a par with his celebrated Soorma Bhopali in Sholay. Sadly, Muskurahat didn’t work. It was Priyadarshan’s first Hindi film. Writer-director Rumi Jaffrey met Jagdeep for the first time when at the age of 18 he came from his hometown Bhopal to Mumbai to attend a wedding. 18-year-old Rumi dropped in to meet Jagdeep Saab as a fan. Rumi could never forget his kindness and generosity. Not only did he ask about Rumi’s family and ambitions, Jagdeep lent Rumi an apartment in Juhu for Rumi to stay in. Rumi shared close ties with Jagdeep until the latter’s death on July 8, 2020. In fact, Jagdeep’s last two films Life Partner and Gali Gali Mein Chor Hai were directed by Rumi. By then the work had almost stopped coming to Jagdeep. Years before Jagdeep’s death Rumi had written the dialogues for a film called Pehla  Pehla  Pyar. It required a cameo appearance by a comic actor. Asrani was supposed to do the role. But he couldn’t make it. There was no time to get anyone else, so they approached  Jagdeep. He asked why they had approached him so late when the shooting was just hours away. When Jagdeep got to know he was a last-minute replacement for Asrani he refused the role. “Dilip Kumar Saab is also not doing any films. Why don’t you offer it to him?” Not many know that Jagdeep was cast as Birju, Nargis’s rebellious son in Mother India.  They even shot the film with him. But somehow director Mehboob Khan felt Jagdeep wasn’t getting the expressions right. That’s how they replaced him with Sunil Dutt. Jagdeep’s son Javed Jafri too had to struggle hard to make an impact, despite his extraordinary dancing skills. Now his grandson Meezan is struggling to find a foothold in filmdom. On his grandfather’s death, Meezan had this to say: “He gave 70 years of his life to the film industry. He was living and breathing films as all he knew since the age of 10 was films. His father had passed away when he was really young, so his father figures were K. Asif, Mehboob Khan, Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt and a few other directors of that time. He has worked with almost every actor of his generation and gave everyone a run for their money. He was a stress buster for people watching him on screen and brought a smile to everyone’s face. With having done 400 films, his legacy lives on forever.”