A real dilwala

The year was 1981 and shooting for Shyam Ralhanrsquos Jeeo Aur Jeene Do was underway The scene showed the legendary actor Pran as a dacoit who leaves the mountains of Chambal to come to Mumbai Unfamiliar with the ways of the city Pranrsquos character lies down on a pavement to rest for the night when the local goonrsquos sidekick shows up to demand hafta The deadly dacoit responds by placing his leg on the collection bowl The sidekick not to be outdone raises his fist and says ldquoAe shaane pair nikaal haath jeb mein daal aur hafta nikaalrdquoPlacing of the leg on the bowl was not in the original script and neither was the sidekickrsquos response But Pran sahab as he was known was offended by the artistersquos improvisation perceiving it as impudence The shoot halted for over two hours with the director having to intervene to soothe the veteranThe actor who played the sidekick too was surprised He had only responded the way his character would have He was none other than Naeem Sayyed better known as Junior Mehmood who passed away on December 8 after a short battle with stomach cancerldquoI donrsquot know this specific storyrdquo says his son Rafiq ldquobut itrsquos typical of Dad Irsquove grown up hearing stories about how as soon as the camera started rolling he would do something completely different than what was rehearsed And not once did the scene have to be reshot Directors always loved it when he pulled this on themrdquo Over time actors learned not to take it personally By the time he passed away in 2013 Junior Mehmood had become lsquoMera Juniorrsquo for PranJunior Mehmoodrsquos elder son Rafiq remembers his father who spared no effort to help the people around him from old friends to rank strangers PicSameer MarkandeWe meet Rafiq in the compound of the Dara House building in Khar Rafiq and his younger brother Hasnain were both born in this house which Junior Mehmood bought at the age of 12 in 1967 ldquoOf course the legal owner was our grandmother but it was all Dadrsquos money He was a star at the time and earning in lakhsrdquo Rafiq recallsBest remembered as the first child artiste to win a Filmfare award Junior Mehmoodrsquos legacy includes his unforgettable performance in Brahmachari where he danced to a recorded version of Hum Kaale Hain Toh Kya Hua Dilwaale Hain a song originally picturised on the actual Mehmood He went on to give us a string of equally memorable performances in various films before moving on to TV serialsNeighbour Inderpal Singh Kohli recalls Junior Mehmood performing at the societyrsquos Diwali function and is still struggling to believe he is gone right Stars like Jeetendra came rushing down to meet Junior Mehmood after learning about his failing health while Johnny Lever his old friend was by his side throughoutThe son of a locomotive pilot working with the Mumbai Port Trust Junior Mehmood got his foot into the film industry at the age of ten with Mohabbat Zindagi Hai that released in 1966 but he was only properly noticed during Suhaag Raat in 1968 when both Jeetendra and the original Mehmood appreciated him and bestowed his lifelong sobriquet on himHis last project was a Hyderabadi film named Majja Masti which he directed this year and is yet to be releasedThe loss is still fresh for the Sayyeds The actorrsquos wife is observing the 130day grief period of Iddah and Rafiq has taken it upon himself to be the rock of the family Just before we meet him we see him talking to a gentleman We stand at a distance out of respect but still overhear the words ldquospoke to him only a few days agordquo Everyone seems shocked at the sudden loss Nobody seems to have seen this comingIt is only after the man leaves that we learn he was a lyricist and that Junior Mehmood was collaborating with him for a project Perhaps the reason why everyone is so shocked at his demise is the fact that he was fully energised till his final daysSalam Kazi a journalist who was a friend to the Sayyed for over 25 years carries millions of memories of Junior Mehmood in his camera It was his video that went viral a week before Junior Mehmoodrsquos death alerting the world to his fateldquoHe performed at our buildingrsquos function in Diwali just a month agordquo says Inderpal Singh Kohli who lives on the third floor of the same building ldquoHe gave us a box of mithai with his own hands My kids used to love him too Thatrsquos just how Mehmood Uncle was everyonersquos favouriterdquoJunior Mehmood was diagnosed only two months ago and that too by accidentldquoHe had been complaining of a constantly upset stomach for several daysrdquo recalls Salam Kazi who runs the YouTube channel India Asks Kazi has been a family friend for 25 yearsldquoIt got so bad that whenever we went out to eat hersquod first check if the place had a washroom because he was unable to retain food in his system I took him to a doctor who prescribed a series of tests When all the results were normal we did a CT scan of his stomach The doctor told us he had cancerrdquo Kazi recallsWhat followed was a series of tests at the Tata Memorial Hospital As kindly as they could the doctors told Kazi that chemotherapy would mean instant death and that taking Junior Mehmood home was the best option Since then he had a nurse and a doctor tend to him while he spent his days in the company of his family and close friends Hundreds of well wishers came to see him and Junior Mehmood recognised every one of them and inquired after their well beingldquoThat is simply how sahab was Every day people would come to him for help and not a single person would go back disappointedrdquo says Mangalaprasad Yadav who has been working as a security guard at the Dara House since 1992 Yadav was at Junior Mehmoodrsquos side during his constant visits to Tata MemorialYadav recalls how Junior Mehmood would give him a R500 note to get him a pack of cigarettes and never ask for the change Rafiq knows this too ldquoI asked Dad once and all he said was lsquouska ek din ka kharcha nikal jaega he will have money to spend on a dayrsquos essentialsrsquo I donrsquot recall Dad ever not thinking about someone else He used to have a large amount of money in his bag which he always carried Whenever someone came for help he would dip into the bag and give him whatever money came out without countingrdquoFor Kazi like countless others it has been a personal loss His phone has been ringing constantly Everyone knew how close he was to Junior Mehmood and he has been getting condolences from all over the country He answers each call thanks the caller and says the same thing Dua kijiye unko jannat naseeb holdquoI first met him on the set of a film around 25 years ago I loved watching shoots We got talking during the lunch break and he asked me where I live When I said Wadala he told me he too lived there till he shifted to Bandrardquo Kazi tells us as we ride on his bike past Building Number 23 in Nadkarni Park Junior Mehmoodrsquos former residence ldquoI went back to the set to meet him and he not only recognised me but also put his arm around me like we were old friendsrdquoKazirsquos videos on social media alerted the world to Junior Mehmoodrsquos plight He posted it a week before the latterrsquos demise and as a result costars such as Jeetendra Sachin Pilgaonkar and Johnny Lever came rushing to meet Junior Mehmood Also present throughout was comedianactor Johnny Lever who arranged for Junior Mehmoodrsquos check up at the Tata Memorial Hospital after hearing about his illnessldquoI first saw him perform at a dance programme when we were both nine years oldrdquo Lever tells midday on the phone ldquoWe didnrsquot interact at the time and the next time our paths crossed Brahmachari had released and he was a big star He was the chief guest at a dance audition in Bandra and I was too embarrassed to perform in front of him I prayed to God that I should not be selected and God answered my prayersrdquoFrom then on Lever never missed any of Junior Mehmoodrsquos films and also tried to meet him several times but there would always be a huge crowd outside his building ldquoThis led to his father getting to know merdquo He says ldquoThen in 1982 a cassette of one of my comedy performances was released and he sought me out because he loved it Before we knew it we were fast friends We also performed together at live programmes and in films Our kids have grown up playing with each otherrdquoLike many Lever too canrsquot believe that the powerhouse of energy is goneldquoWe had a function in August to remember the original Mehmood and Junior danced to and sang his songs Irsquom not sure if he knew he was falling ill but I believe he didnrsquot want his treatment to come in the way of his passion and hence didnrsquot tell anyonerdquo Lever saysldquoWe never told him his diagnosis but I think he knew Two days before his death I asked him if he had any unfulfilled wishes He said no he just wanted to be remembered as a good man I think even God will not deny this factrdquo says KaziHe isnrsquot sure if he can say the same about many people who worked with Junior Mehmood thoughldquoThere are so many megastars who stay in the same city who we have seen with Junior bhai in so many films And none of them came to his funeralrdquo a pensive Kazi says ldquoThey should have right Irsquom sure they could have if they really wanted tordquo