Mac Mohan – Iconic henchman of Bollywood yesterdays

Mac Mohan (1938 – 2010) was an iconic character artist of Bollywood cinema, best known for playing negative shades onscreen in the classic era of Bollywood. He was almost a permanent fixture of action films in the late 1960s and 1970s throughout. Known for his distinct style and dialogue delivery, he has played his signature roles in many of Amitabh Bachchan hits like Hera Pheri, Don, Sholay, Karz, Satte Pe Satta, Zanjeer, Rafoo Chakkar, Majboor, Shaan and Khoon Pasina. He was seen in Rishi Kapoor movies like Rafoo Chakkar and Karz, and his iconic role of Samba – the sidekick of Gabbar Singh in Sholay is not easily forgettable.

Mac rarely played full-length roles onscreen, yet his short roles remained memorable. This bad man mostly played henchman roles on Bollywood screen, and unfortunately got type casted with similar kind of roles. It can be said he created new benchmark to henchman characters to Bollywood screen through a series of his tailor-made roles onscreen. He was last seen in 2010 comedy film, Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge a few months before his death. He was undergoing the treatment of cancer during his last years, yet was active in his film career till then.

Mac Mohan was born in Karachi, and brought up in Lucknow. Initially he wanted to become a cricketer right from childhood and reached Mumbai with dreams in a sports career. But he joined theatre and ended up as an actor. In fact he also took acting classes from Filmalaya School of Acting in Mumbai. He initially worked as an assistant director under Chetan Anand, and also made his screen debut in Chetan’s war film, Haqeeqat in 1964. Started off with bit roles in the early 1960s he rose to prominence in the 1970s when Amitabh Bachchan’s action flicks became popular. He was a busy actor throughout 1970s and 1980s, and towards the end of his career he made cameo appearances.

Mac Mohan – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. His father was a colonel in British and Indian army.

2. When his father got transferred from Karachi to Lucknow, the family settled there. Mac Mohan also began his education in Lucknow.

3. Born in Karachi and brought up in Lucknow, he came to Mumbai in 1952 to get training as a cricketer, but became an actor.

4. He has played for Uttar Pradesh team in cricket.

5. His real name is Mohan Makijany.

6. Noted Bollywood actress of 1990s – Raveena Tandon is his niece. He was her maternal uncle.

7. His daughter Manjari Makijany has worked as a set designer in Bollywood, and now an American filmmaker.

8. He has appeared in a total of 218 films belonging to Hindi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Sindhi, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Russian and Spanish languages, and has delivered dialogues in all languages except Oriya.

9. He had an impressive inning in regional cinema, though he mostly played baddie on Bollywood screen.

10. He was a classmate of actor Sunil Dutt in Lucknow.

11. He was almost a permanent fixture of action entertainers of Amitabh Bachchan throughout 1970s and early 1980s.

12. Majboor is the role most close to his heart, where he had a complete change in makeover, style and dialogue delivery.

13. One of the iconic dialogues ever in Bollywood cinema “Arre O Sambha, Kitna Inaam Rakhe Hain Sarkar Hum Par?” was delivered by Amjad Khan to Mac Mohan in Sholay, for which his character replies, “Poore Pachaas Hazaar”.

14. Though Mac Mohan mostly played brief roles on screen, he was so versatile that he makes his small roles memorable.

15. Stumped, Soch, Pehchaan, Insaan, Luck By Chance and Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge are some of his last releases.