Mumbai: Senior film, TV and stage actor
Mushtaq Khan died of
cancer at age 76 in Mumbai Thursday. The tall, strapping comedian brought a spark to the big and small screen, shuffling sideways as he walked, pulling up his trousers and rolling his eyes as he muttered funny one-liners.
Khan had been admitted to Nanavati Hospital since a fortnight. BN Tiwari, president of FWICE (Federation of Western India Cine Employees) told
TOI, “He was an artiste of great calibre and a pleasant, affable person. Just six months ago, our union helped him recover old dues which a producer owed him. He was undergoing medical treatment at the time.”
Khan started his film career with ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai’ in the mid-70s, then drew attention in
Mahesh Bhatt films like ‘Aashiqui’, ‘Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin’ and ‘Sadak’. Khan’s comic timing in ‘Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke’, ‘Jodi No 1’, and ‘Welcome’, where he played a disabled hockey player, brought the house down. The serials ‘Wagle Ki Duniya’, ‘Chamatkar’, ‘Tedhe Medhe Sapne’ were other highlights. Khan remained circuit active on the OTT circuit as well.
He is survived by his wife and two sons.
Mushtaq Khan was born in 1950 in Baihar village, Madhya Pradesh, and lived there until he completed his MA from Balaghat nearby.
He told this reporter in 2019, “I was fond of acting from childhood. I was in class six when I began to perform and sing in school plays. I did some mono acting as well. I cultivated a desire to become a film actor in college where I wrote, acted and directed my own plays.*
Khan’s father was a garment dealer who was not happy at his son aiming for cinema. However, his elder brother was supportive. “And then something happened which compelled my father to back my passion. One day, a serious fight broke out between a group of students from my college and some policemen. I think a couple of policemen even died of their wounds. The incident blew up and became a talking point. My father felt it was best to send me away from there lest I be drawn into the controversy. I took my chance and came away to Bombay.”
Mushtaq Khan had a friend named Suresh Zargar who guided him to the Bharatiya Jan Natya Manch (later IPTA) to channelise his talent. “I began to get good work. I did a play called ‘Dronacharya’ by Shankar Shesh which received wide acclaim,” he had said.
In 2024, Khan claimed he was abducted on the Delhi-Meerut highway, with kidnappers demanding a ransom of Rs 1 crore. He managed to escape.
