Agha (actor)

Agha (actor) Biography

Agha (actor) was one of the earliest versatile actors of Indian silver screen. He has been one of earliest well-established comedians of Bollywood. He along with Johnny Walker, Gope and Yakub, forms the first generation of comedians of Bollywood. In B. K. Karanjia co- edited book, Genres of Indian Cinema it’s stated that the real acting potential of these actors was unused which was a 'gross injustice'. Painted Sin (1935) was his debut movie and Ulfat Ke Nayee Manzilen (1994) was his last released one. Spanning a career of almost 50 years from 1935 and 1986, Agha has given life to more than 300 character roles of Hindi cinema.

Agha modeled himself on Bob Hope's style of acting. Agha became popular with the movie Ghunghat in 1960 and the popular song – Andhe Jahaan Ke Andhe Raste from the movie Patita (1953), sung by Talat Mahmood and composed by Shankar-Jaikishan was pictured on him. His son, Jalal Agha was also a Bollywood actor best known for the cabaret ‘Mehbooba’ of Sholay in 1975.

Agha, an actor of Persian descent was born on 21 March 1914. Agha has once confessed that he has gone to school only three days. He was interested in horses and wanted to become a jockey. He was seen around Poona Race Course in those days. When he reached Mumbai, he took interest in plays and decided to take acting as his career. He started as a production manager in Kanwal Movietone in 1930 and got his first film role - Painted Sin in 1935.

It was through his comic roles he attained quick attention. His facial expressions and body language entertained crowd a lot. Karwan-e-Husn (1935), Rangila Mazdoor (1938), and Anuradha (1940) are some of his early noted roles as a comedian. Circus Ki Sundari (1941) was also a breakthrough for his career which gave him lead roles in Muqabala (1942), Laheri Cameraman (1944) and Taxi Driver (1944). He was active in the industry till 1980s.

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Updated: November 12, 2015