Angrezon ke zamane ke jailor Asrani, who redefined Bollywood humour, dies at 84

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 movies 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”.

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.

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

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 artist 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 instead. 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.

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

Priyadarshan’s upcoming two films — “Haiwaan” and “Bhooth Bangla” — will feature posthumous appearances by Asrani.