Once in Mughal-E-Azam, he now drives taxi

For Mohammed Akram Ali Khan, a taxi-driver in his late 60s, last week’s re-release of Mughal-E-Azam has brought back old memories. A ti...

For Mohammed Akram Ali Khan, a taxi-driver in his late 60s, last week’s re-release of Mughal-E-Azam has brought back old memories. A time when he first slapped on the greasepaint and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Madhubala and Meena Kumari.

It may have been way back in the ’50s, but the days are firmly etched in his memory. After all, Mughal-E-Azam was Khan’s first film, after which he landed some character roles in the then black-and-white films.

Khan still remembers his first screen dialogue in Mughal-E-Azam, and delivers it with the same gusto. ‘‘Reham, Alam Panah reham. Jitna apka Salim per haq hai utna hum Rajputon ka hai. Ye na bhuliye, hamare khoon per rakhi yeh diwaren hil jayengi.’’ It was reportedly okayed by director K Asif in one take.

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Today, Khan lives in a narrow lane of the Nakhas area in Chowk locality of the old city. And he treasures his celluloid days. Going down memory lane, he takes out some old photographs, safely packed in a polythene bag. Nostalgia engulfs him.

‘‘This is on the sets of Do Ustad — Raj Kapoor, Madhubala and myself. This is me with Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari in Kohinoor. Here I am with Farooq Sheikh and Shabana Azmi in Anjuman…’’ he points out, carefully holding up each picture.

Khan recalls how he stole Rs 1,400 from his mother’s purse and ran away to Mumbai when he was just 14 years old. ‘‘My parents brought me back but could not hold me here. I ran away again after completing my graduation from Lucknow University,’’ he says. According to him, Dilip Kumar, who was a friend of his father, then helped him into a six-month acting course at S Mukerjee’s institute. His fellow students were Asha Parekh, Sadhana.

He had a ‘‘very small role’’ in Mughal-E-Azam, but it changed his life. Soon, he had done about 18 films, enacting different roles — as a policeman, comedian, villain etc.

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So then why did he quit when the going got good? Unbelievably, it was a rape scene with Meena Kumari in Kohinoor. ‘‘I had a beautiful rape scene with Meena Kumari in Kohinoor. My wife, Nigar Fatima, saw it and immediately told me to either divorce her or leave the film industry,’’ he says. So, Akram chose his four children and their mother over reel-life.

Although he hailed from the famous perfume-maker family of Asghar Ali Mohd Ali, Akram opted to drive a taxi. But he still hopes for that role of a lifetime, preferably as a tragic character.