Asrani: Not just a comic, also artiste who embodied everyman in middle-of-the-road cinema

He was more than just the comedian, a staple brought into the plot to invoke laughs. Govardhan Kumar Asrani was also the quiet character actor who was so much a part of the middle-of-the-road movies that now epitomise a golden era in Hindi cinema.

Asrani, who died on Diwali afternoon and was cremated quietly on Monday evening without any fanfare as the country celebrated the festival of lights, was 84.

He will always be remembered as the jailor from ‘Sholay’ whose loud, exaggerated persona evoked laughter and whose dialogue ‘Hum angrezon ke zamane ke jailor hain’ is quoted almost as if on loop 50 years later.

That same year came Basu Chatterjee's ‘Chhoti Si Baat’ in which Asrani played the smooth-talking Nagesh trying to stymie the hero Amol Palekar's chances with Vidya Sinha, and the supportive brother in Gulzar's ‘Khushboo’. Quite incredibly, 1975 was also the year he went against the grain to play a negative role in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's ‘Chaitali’.

It was an incredible, if now forgotten, career arc.

Asrani acted in more than 300 films over six decades. It was a lifetime of making movies, many roles forgettable and many that will stay on.

Asrani was also famously Chander from ‘Abhimaan’ (1973), the friend who helps the conflicted singer hero work through his ego battles. The Amitabh Bachchan-Jaya Bachchan starrer was a personal favourite, one that his mentor Mukherjee convinced him to play.

In a sense, Mukherjee groomed him into being a character artiste who represented a certain kind of cinematic sensibility. Amongst the others who gave him a platform to shine were Gulzar and Basu Chatterjee.

The films from the 1970s, considered to be a decade of Hindi movie greats, included Asrani as a lost-in-his-own-world musician in ‘Bawarchi’ (1972), the friend who has no comic lines but moves the humour plotline in the classic comedy ‘Chupke Chupke’ (1975) and the heroine's brother in ‘Namak Haram’ (1973).

All these were directed by Mukherjee.

Gulzar tried to explore Asrani's range as an artist, casting him in ‘Mere Apne’, ‘Parichay’, ‘Koshish’ and ‘Achanak’.

"There were initially two 'schools of thought' as far as comedy in Hindi films is concerned. One was the 'Bimal Roy School' whose exponents included the likes of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, LV Prasad, Basu Chatterjee and Basu Bhattacharya. Their films were realistic and the comedy subtle. They never kept humour away from the main story,” Asrani told PTI in a candid interview in 2016.

"Then came the 'Madras School' which brought a separate comedy track, different from the main story. Jeetendra, myself and Kader Khan, among others, did this... Here the comedy was loud, nonetheless it was homely,” he added.

Asrani was an actor who adapted through the times. As the tone grew louder and more slapstick in the 1980s and 1990s, so did Asrani.

In this era came ‘Himmatwala’, ‘Ek Hi Bhool’, ‘Kaamchor’ and ‘Biwi Ho To Aisi’. In the 1990s came films such as ‘Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan’, and ‘Gharwali Baharwali’.

His chemistry with Govinda in several David Dhawan comedies such as ‘Hero No. 1’, ‘Deewana Mastana’ and ‘Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan’ introduced him to a new generation of viewers.

Asrani was part of a remarkable comic tradition that included Mehmood, Johnny Walker and Keshto Mukherjee. He brought his own brand of everyman humour to the screen.

In the last phase of his acting career, Asrani's most significant collaborator was Priyadarshan who gave him roles in ‘Hera Pheri’, ‘Chup Chup Ke’, ‘Garam Masala’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’.

Born in 1941 into a middle-class Sindhi family that migrated from Pakistan after Partition, Asrani grew up in Jaipur with four sisters and three brothers.

He studied in St Xavier's School and graduated from Rajasthan College, supporting his education by working as a voice artiste at the All India Radio, Jaipur, where he was introduced to the world of storytelling and performance.

He was not interested in his father's carpet business and was insistent on becoming an actor. He enrolled himself in Pune's famed Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

His acting career began in the early 1960s, with small parts in Gujarati films before he moved to Mumbai. His first Hindi film appearance was in ‘Hare Kaanch Ki Choodiyan’ (1967), but it was Hrishikesh Mukherjee's ‘Satyakam’ (1969) and ‘Guddi’ (1971) that gave him visibility.

In a BBC podcast interview in August, the actor recalled how his move into the big league happened.

Gulzar and Mukherjee visited the FTII campus looking to cast a young actress for ‘Guddi’. Asrani introduced Mukherjee to Jaya Bhaduri but getting his own role was not so easy. Finally, he managed to convince Mukherjee to cast him as Kundan, a young budding actor who comes to Bombay to become an actor but gets restricted to smaller parts.

It was the beginning of a lifelong partnership with the two. Though largely pigeonholed in supporting roles, Asrani made frequent efforts to break through.

He became a director with 1977's ‘Chala Murari Hero Banne’, a partly autobiographical film in which he played the role of an aspiring actor facing exploitation. He also directed and acted in ‘Salaam Memsaab’ (1979), ‘Hum Nahin Sudharenge’ (1980), ‘Dil Hi To Hai’ (1992) and the Rekha-starrer ‘Udaan’ (1997).

None were successful and Asrani went back to comedy.

In 2016, he appeared in the adult comedy ‘Mastizaade’, a project he regretted.

"It's terrible and horrible (the 'vulgarity' in films these days). I am embarrassed that I had to work in 'Mastizaade'. I did not know that the film would be made like this," he said. Asrani was the rare actor who spoke his mind, be it politics or the industry itself.

In his view, it was comedy legend Mehmood who introduced the concept of double-meaning dialogues in Hindi films.

"Mehmood sahib had started using double-meaning dialogues and some of them worked, so some others also tried to cash in on the formula. It was still double meaning then but now it is vulgar, all that remains is taking clothes off," Asrani told PTI.

Ahead of the 2014 elections, Asrani spoke out on the “Gujarat model” and backed the Congress.

Asrani's contribution wasn't limited to Hindi films. He worked in Gujarati cinema, with his most notable contribution coming in 1990 when he directed and starred in ‘Amadavad no Rikshavaro’.

There is little known about his personal life. He was married to former actor Manju Bansal.

He's not yet done with the movies.

Priyadarshan's upcoming two films – ‘Haiwaan’ and ‘Bhoot Bangla’ -- will feature posthumous appearances by Asrani.

Through the years, he also made it a point to connect on social media platforms. In fact, his last post was a Diwali greeting to fans.

He died just a few hours later.