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 .. Read More
purchasing a new house in a better locality of Mumbai. Though Kader Khan was settled in his life somewhere within his heart he was discontented. Since youth, he had a penchant for writing and drama but he was not getting a platform to display his talent at the 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 to write 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 the film with Bairaag and Sagina both the films got delayed and his first film that was released was Jawani Deewani (1972). He was paid just Rs 1500/- for the film but the film was such a big hit that Kader Khan increased his fees to Rs 10,000 for Dil Diwana (1974) for the same producer Narendra Bedi. However, Kader Khan turned the tables when he was signed by Manmohan Desai for Rajesh Khanna’s hit film Roti. It’s reported Desai was unhappy with the writer of Roti and was hunting for 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 would 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 an hour Kader Khan wrote the scene on the set 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 a 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 the success of Amitabh Bachchan When Amitabh Bachchan was struggling during the early 70’s Kader Khan played a pivotal role in boosting the content of his films as a dialogue writer. The duo have worked on 33 films together beginning with Be-Naam (1974) suspense thriller and later doing many blockbusters 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 an actor More than writing dialogue Kader Khan had a 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 a dialogue writer 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's film Adalat as an honest police officer. The movie was a hit and Khan began getting good roles. After Amitabh Bachchan’s Khoon Pasina (1977) in which he played the lead villain, he became a 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)