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 Balraj
Sahni was stunned out of his wits when, while travelling in a bus in
the early Fifties, the slightly ‘tipsy’ conductor drunkenly asked
him for his ticket. Little did Sahni know then that the conductor
or, to give him his correct name, Badruddin Kazi, was only acting a
role that would soon propel him to the heights of stardom in the
world of comedy and make him a standard fixture in most films of
that period produced in Bollywood.
Sahni gave him an ‘intro’ to Guru Dutt, and when Kazi approached
him, he again pretended to be dead drunk. Spotting the latent talent
in the bus conductor, Guru Dutt not only signed him up on the spot
for his forthcoming Pyaasa but gave him the name of Johnny Walker,
after the drink symbolised by the ‘walking Scotchman’. The rest is
history. The malishwala of Pyaasa who waltzed through life singing
Sar Jo Tera Chakraye endeared himself to filmgoers and the clean
comedy that he presented for nearly 15 years in films thereafter
thrilled and entertained a whole generation. He reigned supreme,
until slapstick and double entrendre dialogue took the place of
clean comedy. He opted out; he did not want to be a part of the
degradation that Bollywood had sunk to in terms of comedy.
As long as he acted, there is no doubt that Johnny Walker was the
king of comedy. No other comedian caught the imagination of the
public as he did. His loose-limbed mannerisms and peevish voice
produced laughs as soon as he appeared on the screen. He rose to
meteoric heights and every performance of his was acclaimed by all.
He pushed the limits of comedy to the ultimate and, like the logo of
the Scotch whisky after whom he had been named, he strode from
success to success and kept audiences vowed from the early Fifties
to the middle Sixties. It became difficult for Bollywood
heavyweights like Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Prakash Mehra not to have
him in their cast.
This is the story of Johnny Walker, the son of a weaver, who had to
do all sorts of odd jobs to maintain the family. He was from a very
poor background, yet never gave up hope of making it big some day.
Whenever he was free, he would make the rounds of the studies,
desperately trying to pick up small roles to earn a little money.
And when he did get his break, there was no looking back after that.
No one who has seen Anand can ever forget the cameo of Murarilal
that Johnny Walker presented in it. It is claimed to be one of his
finest performances. Some of his lines in that memorable film
were-Hum sab rangmanch ki kathputlian hain, jiski dor uparwale ke
haath mein hai. Kab kaun kaise uthega, yeh koi nahin janta. Last
week, the call from his Creator came and the obscurity that he had
chosen for himself came to an end.
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