Agha (actor)


Agha was an Indian actor of Bollywood films. He was known for comic roles and modeled himself on Bob Hope's style of acting. He appeared in over 300 Hindi films in his career between 1935 and 1986. His son, Jalal Agha, also became an actor, mostly known for the song Mehbooba Mehbooba in Sholay.

Early life

Aghajan Baig was born on 21 March 1914 at Fatima Nagar, Pune, British India. His father was originally from Iran and had settled in Pune but had to leave Pune for Bombay in search of employment.
Agha confessed that he went to school for just three days, "that was as long as I could stand it". He spent time "mooching" around the Poona Race Course as he wanted to become a jockey and loved horses. Agha came to Bombay and joined his neighbourhood drama group. His interest in acting took him to films where in 1933 he started as a production manager in Kanwal Movietone.

Career

His first film was Kanwal Movietone's Stree Dharma, also called Painted Sin, starring Mehtab and Nazir. However, his films Karwan-e-Husn, Wadia Movietone's Rangila Mazdoor and Anuradha helped him gain recognition as a comic actor. He acted in Kikubhai Desai's Circus Ki Sundari, which was popular and this helped in getting lead roles in films such as Muqabala, Laheri Cameraman and Taxi Driver. His most active years were from the 1930s to the 1980s.

Filmography

Selected list.
YearFilmRoleDirector
1935Stree DharmaC. M. Rafi
1935Karwan-e-HusnC. M. Rafi
1936BerozgaarRajhans
1937DaulatS. M. Yusuf
1938Rangila MazdoorS. M. Yusuf
1939Kahan Hai Manzil TeriS. M. Yusuf
1940AnuradhaMohan Sinha
1940Captain KishoriK. Amarnath
1941Circus Ki SundariBalwant Bhatt
1941Nai RoshniChimankant Gandhi
1941Safed SawarNari Ghadiali
1941RotiMehboob Khan
1942MuqablaNanabhai Bhatt, Babubhai Mistri
1942Apna ParayaRamachandra Thakur
1942Mera GaonPrafulla Roy
1943AmanatLalit Chandra Mehta
1943Mohabbat Ki JeetRamanlal Desai
1944Laheri CameramanNari Ghadiali
1944Taxi DriverS. M. Raza
1944Bhagya LaxmiSarvottam Badami
1945MeghdootDebaki Bose
1945Chalis KarodNanabhai Bhatt
1946Khush NaseebVithaldas Panchotia
1946DhokhebaazR. Shivraj
1947ElaanMehboob Khan
1947JugnuShaukat Hussain Rizvi
1948Jadui BansuriNanubhai Vakil
1948ShikayatShahid Lateef
1948GajreR. D. Mathur
1949BalamHomi Wadia
1949Bhool BhulaiyanTaimur Behramshah
1950Hamari BetiShobhana Samarth
1950Hamara GharNanabhai Bhatt
1951BadalAmiya Chakravarty
1951Ustad PedroHarish
1952Do RahaBal Chhabda
1952AmbarJayant Desai
1953PatitaAmiya Chakravarty
1953ChandiraniBhanumathi
1954Bahut Din HuweS. S. Vasan
1954Chandni ChowkB. R. Chopra
1955TismarkhanH.S. Kwatra and music by Sardul Kwatra
1955Udan KhatolaS. U. Sunny
1955Mr. and Mrs. 55Guru Dutt
1956ParivarAsit Sen
1957Bade SarkarKishore Sahu
1957Nausherwan-E-AdilSohrab Modi
1958Kala PaniRaj Khosla
1959NavrangV. Shantaram
1959ArdhanginiAjit Chakrabarty
1960GhunghatRamanand Sagar
1961GharanaSarang S. S. Vasan
1961Zindagi aur KhwabS. Banerji
1963NartakiNitin Bose
1964Daal Mein KaalaSatyen Bose
1964Dulha DulhanRaj Kapoor
1968AadmiPremA. Bhimsingh
1968PadosanJyoti Swaroop
1968Teen BahuraniyanS.S Balan and S.S Vasan
1969Jigri DostRavikant Nagaich
1971Tere Mere SapneVijay Anand
1972Bombay To GoaS. Ramanathan
1972Piya Ka GharBasu Chatterjee
1973HoneymoonHiren Nag
1973Mere Gharib Nawaz
1974Prem NagarK.S. Prakash Rao
1976CharasRamanad Sagar
1977Hum Kisise Kum NahinHotel ManagerNasir Hussain
1977Aadmi Sadak KaDevendra Goel
1981KrantiManoj Kumar
1982Main Intaquam LoongaColonel BajpaiT. Rama Rao
1983Andhaa KanoonT. Rama Rao
1983Ulta SidhaT. Rama Rao
1986Love And GodK. Asif
1986Baat Ban JayeBharat Rangachary
1989IshwarK. Vishwanath

Death

Agha died on 30 April 1992 of a heart attack in Pune, Maharashtra, India, at the age of 78. He was survived by three daughters, one son Jalal Agha and son-in-law actor Tinnu Anand.

Awards

He was nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for the 1960 film Ghunghat, but did not win the award.