Kader Khan

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Kader Khan’s childhood was spent in Mumbai’s infamous Kamatipuara area Kader Khan’s family migrated to India because they had a strange superstition that Kabul was ill-fated for their kids as all their three sons died at the age of 8 years. Hence when Kader Khan’s mother was pregnant with Kader in womb, the family shifted to Mumbai in the hope their son would survive. Fortunately Kader Khan survived. Since they were migrants from Kabul (Afghanistan) and Kader Khan’s father was a Moulvi (Urdu and Arabic Teacher in Mosque) hence he had bare income. The family lived in Mumbai’s dirtiest and infamous Kamatipura area. Since the income was less there was constant quarrel between his parents and this led to their separation. Little Kader Khan chose to live with his mother. Kader Khan would have been a laborer had his father not thought him the worth of education After separation of his parents, Kader Khan’s life became much difficult as his mother was not educated and did domestic work but it was not sufficient to survive hence young Kader Khan decided to help his mother. One day he kept his school bag at home and went out to do a labor job. But his father saw him and enlightened him about the worth of education. He told him that if he becomes a labor then entire life he will earn just a penny hence if he wishes to evade poverty then he must educate himself! Kader was motivated and he began studying hard. He did his schooling from Mumbai’s Municipal school. Later he went on to become a Civil Engineer from Mumbai’s Ismail Yusuf College. After that he worked as a Professor teaching Engineering to students at Mumbai’s eminent M. H. Saboo Siddik College of Engineering from 1970 and 1975

His marriage was an arranged marriage.

Kader Khan is obliged to thespian Dilip Kumar Kader Khan’s father’s advice proved right. With education and his hard work Kader Khan’s life had changed. He was happy teaching students at Engineering College. He had also brought out his mother from poverty and the dark lanes of Kamatipura by purchasing a new house in a better locality of Mumbai. Though Kader Khan was settled in his life but somewhere within his heart he was discontented. Since youth he had penchant for writing and drama but he was not getting a platform to display his talent at national level. However lady luck was smiling on him hence soon his drama – Local Train- won the Best Drama National Award and Kader Khan was awarded a cash prize of Rs 1500/- The play was launched in Mumbai and fortunately Bollywood superstar and thespian Dilip Kumar attended to watch the show. After the show when everyone left Dilip Kumar was so overwhelmed by the drama’s superlative dialogues that he remained sunk in his seat. He immediately called Kader Khan and applauded him for excellent writing and on the spot signed him for writing dialogues for his 2 films Sagina and Bairaag. Kader Khan remains obliged to thespian Dilip Kumar because after that doors of Bollywood gradually began to open. Kader Khan became the first dialogue writer to be paid handsomely Though Kader Khan came into film with Bairaag and Sagina but both the films got delayed and his first film that released was Jawani Deewani (1972). He was paid just Rs 1500/- for the film but the film was such a big hit that that Kader Khan increased his fees to Rs 10,000 for Dil Diwana (1974) for the same producer Narendra Bedi. However Kader Khan turned table when he was signed by Manmohan Deasi for Rajesh Khanna’s hit film Roti. It’s reported Desai was unhappy with the writer of Roti and was hunting a good writer. It was at this time, he was introduced to Kader Khan by a close friend. But Deasi was quite dejected as he had tried many writers and had lost faith in new writers. Hence when he met Kader Khan, he mocked him. Khan was angry and challenged Desai that he would write so impressively that he will be forced to sign him. Desai accepted the challenge and asked Kader Khan to pen a scene and meet him the next day. But Khan was furious. He wanted to prove his genius. Within half hour Kader Khan wrote the scene on the sets itself, right in front of Desai! When Desai read the scene he hugged Kader Khan and immediately gave him a cheque of Rs 1 lakh, an amount which no dialogue writer had ever given. That’s not all; Desai also gave credit to Kader Khan on the film posters. Thus Kader Khan became Indian cinema’s first dialogue writer to get handsome fees and a credit on film poster! Kader Khan became a permanent writer for Manmohan Desai he wrote Dharam Veer Amar Akbar Anthony, Coolie, Parvarish, Suhaag etc. The association lasted for 15 years. Kader Khan played a pivotal role in success of Amitabh Bachchan When Amitabh Bachchan was struggling during early 70’s Kader Khan played a pivotal role in boosting the content of his films as a dialogue writer. The duo have worked for 33 films together beginning with Be-Naam (1974) suspense thriller and later did many blockbuster like Amar Akbar Anthony, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Naseeb, Laawaris, Coolie, Sharabi, Agneeepath, Satte Pe Satta, Hum etc. Readers would be surprised to know that Kader Khan was the only actor who called Bachchan by his name, while others addressed him as sahib. However when Amitabh Bachchan joined politics the relation between the two soured. Kader Khan’s stint as actor More than writing dialogue Kader Khan had penchant for acting. Hence when he wrote plays for stage he made it a point to play a part. Hence when he began his career as dialogue writing with Bairaag, he played a small role. He continued doing minor roles from 1970 but in 1977 he got an important role in Amitabh Bachchan film Adalat as an honest police officer. The movie was hit and Khan began getting good roles. After Amitabh Bachchan’s Khoon Pasina (1977) in which he played the lead villain, he became famous villain. Later he did many films like Coolie, Suhaag, Meri Aawaz Suno, Naseeb etc. as lead villain. Kader Khan’s stint as a Comedian In 1983 with Himmatwala Kader Khan became famous as a comedian and he went on to do many good films as a comedian along with Govinda and Shakti Kapoor. Readers would be surprised to know that as Comedian he was nominated 9 times by Filmfare in films like Himmatwala (1984) ; Aaj Ka Daur (1986) ;Sikka (1990) ; Hum (1992); Aankhen (1994); Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1995); Coolie No. 1 (1996); Saajan Chale Sasural (1997) and 1999: Dulhe Raja. He won Best Comedian only once for Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri (1991)