Iftekhar (actor)

Iftekhar Ahmed
Born	Sayeedana Iftekhar Ahmed Shareef 22 February 1920 Jallandhar, Punjab ( British India)
Died	4 March 1995 (aged 75) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Other names	Iftekhar
Occupation	actor
Years active	1938–92

Sayaddana Iftekhar Ahmed Shareef, often mononymously credited as Iftekhar (इफ्तिखार) (22 February 1920 – 4 March 1995), was a character actor in Bollywood films, especially known for his roles as police officer. Note: It is stated that actress Veena was Iftekhar's sister. Their individual biographies are conflicting and there is no indication that these two persons are related.

Iftekhar was born in Jallandhar and was the eldest among four brothers and a sister. After completing his matriculation Iftekhar did a diploma course in painting from Lucknow College Of Arts. Iftekhar had a passion for singing and was impressed with the famous singer Kundanlal Sehgal. In his twenties Iftekhar travelled to Kolkata for an audition conducted by the renowned music composer Kamal Dasgupta who was then serving for HMV. Dasgupta was so impressed by Iftekhar's personality that he recommended his name to M.P. Production as an actor. Iftekhar made his debut in the 1944 film “Taqraar” which was made under the banner of “Art Films-Kolkata. Many of Iftekhar’s close relative including his parents and siblings migrated to Pakistan during partition. Iftekhar preferred to stay in India though due to the riots he was forced to leave Kolkata. He, along with his wife and daughters migrated to Mumbai where they struggled to make ends meet. Iftekhar had been introduced to actor Ashok Kumar during his time in Kolkata. He contacted Ashok Kumar in Mumbai who not only recognized Iftekhar but also gave him a role in the Bombay Talkies movie "Muqaddar" which released in 1950. Iftekhar acted in over 400 films in a career that spanned from the 1940s through to the early 1990s.

Like many of the older character actors who populated the Bollywood universe of the 1960s and 1970s, Iftekhar had been a lead actor in his youth during the 'golden age' of Bollywood in the 1940s and 1950s. His roles ranged from father, uncle, great-uncle, grandfather, police officer, police commissioner, courtroom judge and doctor. He also did negative roles in Bandini, Sawan Bhadon, Khel Khel Mein and Agent Vinod.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Iftekhar graduated to playing uncle, father, and what came to be his speciality: police inspector roles, doctor or senior advocate. Generally he played 'sympathetic' characters but, on occasion, he played the heavy. One of his most memorable roles as a heavy was as Amitabh Bachchan's corrupt industrialist mentor in Yash Chopra's classic Deewaar (1975). Another of Iftekhar's classic roles was as the police inspector in Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer. It was a small part, but the scene where Iftekhar reprimands the near hysteric Amitabh Bachchan for taking the law into his own hands is incredibly powerful. Another important role as a police officer was played by him in 1978 hit film Don.Some of his major roles came in Rajesh Khanna films like Joroo Ka Ghulam, Mehboob Ki Mehndi, The Train , Khamoshi, Safar, Raja Rani, Ittefaq, Rajput, Awam.

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