FilmIndia (Jan-Nov 1942)

FILM INDIA January 1942 Mazhar's great character portrayal in '"Sonera Sansar" is still remembered as a landmark of great acting. that obstinacy as in the case of w^ poor males. "Day in and day out I waited for an opportunity till one afternoon, escaping the watchful eye of the Pathan. I sneaked through the gate and dashed forward without looking behind. I was received with a gruff but a few more daring efforts like this secured me at least a standing place in this earthly heaven. PROFESSIONAL HIGHWAYMAN "I was an actor now and was given the role of a villain in my first picture. It was neither a surprise nor a disappointment for I had a tough body roughened in the maintenance of law and order. The role thus fitted me. I do not know whether I did my part ^successfully or not bui the cinema public liked it and that fact alone acted as a spur to my ambition;. "My other pictures followed m quick succession. This was the period of stunt pictures. I played the villain in all of them. My job was looting, marauding, terrorising, acting as a foil to the hero and even sometimes kidnapping the heroine, and shall I say In a manly way that I discharged these duties with due responsibility and marked efficiency. "Then came the period when thu trend of Indian pictures had to undergo a change in order to keep pace with the times. The stunt element in the films did not disappear totally but more attention was paid now to mythological, historical and semisocial type of films. "The roles that I was assigned in these pictures required not only daring adventures and heroic feats of valour but those subtle expressions and emotional contortions of the face which are essential in depicting a characteristic role with a touch of extra realism. Mazhar as Noor AH in "Masoom" "1 was ever convinced that before behaving like a certain person and living his life, one must look like him. Here comes the significance and importance of the art of makeup in film-acting. And in the field of character-acting, the element of make-up assumes all the more importance. I, therefore, paid particular attention to this side of acting. In all the pictures produced in this period, my work won wide and generous approval from the ever-increasing number of cine fans. What a joy to reap the fruits of hard labour! Love's labour is never lost. I loved my work and therefore laboured to make it as lovable as I could by giving it touches of realism. Quite naturally, therefore, the public appreciation of my work sent me to seventh heaven of delight — the delight that I am told Napoleon felt when he wore the military uniform for the first time in life. 14 YEARS AND 112 PICTURES "Times were fast changing and so were the tastes of the people. The film industry had to adjust itself to the changing conditions if it was ever to play its due role in the national life of our country. Talking pictures had already revolutionised the film industry. Now there was a definite demand for purely social films with a purpose, important roles in these new type of films required good character-actors- who nione could portray them with success. To my own surprise, such roles suited me to the core, I found them not only absorbingly interesting but also providing me with an opportunity to put to test my hidden faculties which afterwards found their appropriate outlet in pictures like "Padosi" and ''Akela" "Taking stock of my fourteen years continuous work in the film industry I find myf.elf right in the rut of film life and have to my credit more than 112 pictures. I have played all sorts of roles — from the meanest beggar to the august em Mazhar in a Bella Lugosi style in "My Eyes", a social picfure. 4H