Mehmood proved his mastery in tragedy in Kunwara Baap Applauded for his comedy Mehmood wanted to establish that he was an all round actor and can do tragedy equally first-class as comedy. With this in mind he produced and directed his career’s most ambitious film Kunwara Baap (1974) based on the sensitive social subject about the grave need of polio vaccination among growing children. The highlight of the film was that Mehmood introduced his own disabled son Maqdoom Ali aka Macky Ali, who was in real life the victim of polio vaccination. During his hey days Mehmood never had time to look after his children and he paid a huge price as he failed to give polio vaccination to Maqdoom and he became disabled in both legs. To emphasis the importance of polio vaccination Mehmood made Kunwara Baap but interestingly mixed comedy in the first half and in the second half he injected intense emotion that left the audience in tears. The school race scene where his disabled son is forced to run without clutches and Mehmood picks his son on his shoulders and run for him is easily the best emotional scene of Indian cinema. The movie was a huge hit. The government of India made it Tax Free but incidentally the movie did not fetch Mehmood any awards. However Raj Ka poorhad remarked – What I could not achieve in Mera Naam Joker, Mehmood did it in Kunwara Baap!
A tough start; He did everything to support family Though Mehmood was the son of a famous actor-dancer, Mumtaz Ali , but he had a big family of 10 members and by the 50’s his father’s job had declined and he taken to liquor. The house was run by Mehmood’s elder sister Minoo Mumtaz who was a good dancer and did character roles in films. To support the family young Mehmood in his teens began supporting her sister and began doing every little thing that earned him money. He became driver of film director PL Santoshi (father of director Rajkumar Santoshi ), taught table tennis to Meena Kumari and did junior artist roles to make a living. He could be seen in films like Kismet, Do Bigha Zameen, Kanoon, CID etc.
His marriage to Madhu Mehmood married Madhu, sister of famous actress Meena Kumari. Actually he fell in love with her when he used to visit Meena Kumari’s house to teach her play table tennis. After marriage Mehmood had a son and it was then that life became serious as he had to run pillar to post to feed his family. Though Meena Kumari’s reference did earned him little work but he could not make his presence felt. But he kept struggling to make it big one day. Death On 23 July 2004 at aged 71
It was Raj Kapoor, who recognized Mehmood’s talent While Mehmood was running helter shelter seeking good role, eminent actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor, noticed him and was impressed by Mehmood’s dancing ability. He was making a film Parvarish (1958) and was looking for an actor who was good in dance as he is shown as a son of Nachnewali (Nautch girl). In this film Mehmood had a parallel role with Raj Kapoor and the two had a song together. The song was Mama O Mama O Mama….In this particular song Mehmood totally outclassed Raj Kapoor but instead of being furious, Raj Kapoor was so happy that he repeated him in his next film Shriman Satyawadi (1960). Both the films were hit and Mehmood became a famous name! He was flooded with offers and even cast as hero in B-grade films like Chhote Nawab, Shabnam, Bhoot Bungla etc. South Filmmakers made Mehmood a Star Comedian Despite gaining name and movies as hero; stardom still evaded Mehmood but his association with South Film banners like L.V. Prasad, AVM, Gemini Pictures etc opened doors of success. With films like Chhoti Bahen, Sasural, Hamrahi, Zindagi etc Mehmood became a Star Comedian. In fact after Sasural (1961) Mehmood formed a superlative pair with Shubha Khote and the duo ruled the entire 60’s giving mega hits films Grihasti, Bharosa, Ziddi and Love In Tokyo. Mehmood’s first Filmfare award In the 60’s if Mehmood was ruling as the undisputed comedian, Shammi Kapoor was gaining popularity as hero with great comic timings hence when Mehmood and Shammi Kapoor came together in the film Dil Tera Diwana (1963) the audience went bananas as both blazed the screen with great comedy. Mehmood outshined Shammi Kapoor with his hilarious acts and went on to win his First Filmfare award. Mehmood’s most hilarious acts The list of hilarious acts of Mehmood is endless but some of his most dynamic acts that force even a stone hearted person to smile include his superlative performance of an aspiring film director in the film Pyar Kiye Jaa (1967). The scene where he narrates the film’s scary ghost tale to his father (Om Prakash) with onomatopoeic sounds effects like 'Waoo, waoo, kudu kudu, kach kach kach' leaves the audience in splits. Pyar Kiye Jaa fetched him his second Filmfare award. Other prominent roles of Mehmood include South Indian Music teacher in Padosan, Bus Conductor in Bombay to Goa, Hyderabadi butler in Gumnaam, Guajarati sheth in Vardaan, Kerala based South character Pavitra Kumar Rai in ‘Do Phool’ who sings ‘Muthukudi Kawadi Hada..; the elderly old mother in Waris, ugly looking waiter in Main Sunder Hoon, and last but not the least his marvelous triple role doing mimicry of Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Randhir Kapoor in the film Humjoli.
| # | Released Date | Type | Credited As | Movie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 Dec 2005 | Film | Singer | Bluffmaster |
| 2 | 13 Mar 1998 | Film | Supporting Actor | Ghar Bazar |
| 3 | 13 Mar 1998 | Film | Supporting Actor | Barsaat Ki Raat |
| 4 | 28 Feb 1997 | Film | Supporting Actor | Judaai |
| 5 | 20 Sep 1996 | Film | Supporting Actor Director | Dushman Duniya Ka |
| 6 | 01 Jan 1995 | Film | Supporting Actor | Mohabbaton Ka Safar |
| 7 | 01 Jan 1995 | Film | Supporting Actor | Guddu |
| 8 | 25 Nov 1994 | Film | Supporting Actor | Zakhmi Dil |
| 9 | 04 Nov 1994 | Film | Supporting Actor | Andaz Apna Apna |
| 10 | 04 Nov 1994 | Film | Supporting Actor | Udhar Ki Zindagi |
