It was a journey down the memory lane for many citizens in Hyderabad at the launch of a biography of yesteryear actor Ajit.
The book penned by Iqbal Razvi delves into the rich life of the actor who was born as Hamid Ali Khan inside the army area of the Golconda Fort and went on to carve a space for himself in filmdom.
Actor Vinay Varma read passages from the book which is available in both Hindi and English according to the publishers. “It was after being caught gossiping about plays inside a class by his teacher Sebastian that Hamid Ali Khan gave serious thought to pursuing a career in movies. He sold his books and pooled ₹113 and escaped to the dazzling arc lights of Bombay,” said Mr. Varma who recreated some of the well-known dialogues of Ajit. Be it the “Sara shaher mujhe lion ke naam se janata hai” from Kalicharan or the deadpan delivery about the murder of Mr. Patil in Zanzeer while chatting with ‘Mona Darling’.
Mr. Razvi spoke about how he chased down the family members of Hamid Khan after speaking to scriptwriter Salim.
Later, an audio-visual presentation showcased the vast number of roles essayed by Ajit from his role with Madhubala in ‘Bekasoor’ to leading the patriots in ‘Anand Math’ singing Vande Mataram to the roles in the evening of his life with walrus moustache and wicked laughter.
