The first rumblings of a southern ‘invasion’ were heard in the early 1960s. Reviewing Prasad Productions’ Sasural (1961), The Times of India’s film critic wrote, ‘Ghunghat, Bindiya, Nazrana and now Sasural. The invasion from the South seems to be complete. Because, whatever be its artistic shortcomings, it cannot be denied that Sasural has got what it takes to be a big box-office hit.’
Mehmood Ali — popularly known as just Mehmood — began working from the age of eight as a child actor in Kismet (1943), where he was cast as a young Ashok Kumar. He essayed short roles in CID (1956) and Pyaasa (1957), and also played lead roles in a few films before he hit it off as a comedian in the Rajendra Kumar starrer, Sasural (1961). After this film, the doors of the world of comedy opened up for him in a big way and he kept making people laugh through his innumerable films — some of which he produced and directed. In Sasural, he was called Mahesh — a name that stuck to him in many other films like Ziddi (1964), Love in Tokyo (1966), and Ladies Hostel (1973).
The legendary actor was so successful that he was given the nickname Jubilee Kumar because his films earned silver and golden jubilee runs in cinemas. Born on July 20, 1929, the iconic star passed away on July 12, 1999 aged 71 after a life well lived.
