Sheikh Mukhtar (1914 – 1980) was a Bollywood actor best known for playing negative roles. He is also credited with being the first villain of Bollywood. With a height of six feet two inches, he was the tallest mainstream actor of Bollywood, before Amitabh Bachchan came into scene. His appearance and looks contributed a lot to his career as a Bollywood villain. Along with his tallest appearance and manly figure, a rugged body of hefty proportions with roughness on his face became the tailor-made villain of the Bollywood screen. Babar and Changez Khan are among his memorable roles.
Sheikh Mukhtar – The iconic villain of Bollywood screen
He was born in Karachi. His father, a police inspector at railways, wanted him to join the police or the army. But Sheikh loved movies and acting. His younger days were spent near Jama Mosque, Delhi. His chance to join the entertainment field came when one of his neighbours opened a theater company in Kolkata, and very soon Sheikh Mukhtar reached there. After being associated with theatre with for a long time, he moved to Mumbai and approached the director Mehbood Khan. Khan got deeply impressed by his acting skills and gave him the first break. Thus Mehboob Khan’s 1939 film Ek Hi Rasta marked his Bollywood debut. Since then he mostly played supporting and villain roles on screen, and worked with Mehboob Khan in numerous movies. Bahan, Badal, Do Bhai, Do Ustad, Ustadon Ka Ustad, Gehra Raaz etc are some of his noted roles.
After earning from Bollywood, he produced several movies in the 1950s with big stars. Deeply impressed with Mughal-E-Azam he produced a movie, Noor Jahan with all his earnings. He also took big loans to fulfill his dreams. The expensive movie was released in 1967 with Pradeep Kumar and Meena Kumari in lead roles. The film was expected to become another epic like Mughal-E-Azam. But the film’s failure shattered his dreams and he was forced to flee to Pakistan overnight with its original prints.
He hoped to release the film in Pakistan and expected to become a big hit. However after watching its publicity, a person filed a case against the film’s release. In the big shock, he turned blind. Time passed by and the case got dragged for many years, and Sheikh Mukhtar turned weaker. Finally the film had a theatrical release in Pakistan after facing a lot of legal issues, and had a big run at box office too. But he couldn’t see its success because he died of a massive heart attack exactly on the same day of the Pakistani release. Some sources say the verdict of the case came out in Sheikh Mukhtar’s favour after his demise. Anyways he was not lucky to see the big success of the movie. He died on May 12, 1980.
Sheikh Mukhtar – Some interesting and lesser-known facts
1. His debut movie Ek Hi Rasta also marked the screen debut of Arun Kumar Ahuja, Govinda’s father. The actors played friends in this court drama. Sheikh played Mangoo, a pickpocket, but Raja’s best friend (portrayed by Ahuja).
2. Mehboob Khan later casted him in Bahen (1941) and Roti (1942).
3. Do Bhai is one of his best roles in the late 1960s. He played a full-fledged positive role of Jwala Singh with some misunderstandings, and his work is definitely praiseworthy.
4. He has appeared aside with comedian Mukri in many movies, and those roles became instant hits. His pairing with actress Begum Para was also appreciated.
5. He played dada and henchman type of roles multiple times.
6. He appeared in more than 70 movies and also produced 8.
7. He was the tallest actor in Bollywood before Big B.
8. He played a rare positive role in Ustadon Ka Ustad and a few more films. He played wicked man and local goon in most films.
9. When his much-anticipated project Noor Jahan terribly flopped at box office, he got fully sunk in debt and was not able to repay the loans. He even received death threats for the same reason. He was fully heartbroken.
10. With original prints he moved to Pakistan and gave big publicity for the film release. But he had to face legal issues and couldn’t release the film during his lifetime which made him completely heart broken and turned blind. When it got released and became super hit after fighting the legal battle for more than a decade, Sheikh Mukhtar was not alive to witness it.
My name is Moinuddin Sheikh son of Late Sheikh Mukhtar , my father never became blind , and we one the case of Pakistan Film industry who tried to stop the release of the film. Pls note Noor Jehan was released in 1967 ,and was a flop thats right and we migrated to Pakistan in 1976, after paying all the exhibitors the advances they gave to my dad in Noor Jehan. My father was the tallest 6ft 3inches and Amitab Bachan is 6ft 2i
Inches. He died a natural death due to diebetes . If you want more evidence pls call me at 949-742-1622 USA.
Sir, extremely sorry if I hurt you any way. It was not at all intentionally. He was really a wonderful actor. A good human being, that’s what I felt when I watched his positive character for a movie of 1960s. I can’t remember its title. I prepared this post based on wikipedia and Tabassum’s blog (she is considered the final word of classic era) …. Giving links below
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Mukhtar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbKKMclTxPo
In both cases, it’s told about ‘blind’.
Google search and a few online pages say, his height was 6 feet and 2 inches. Can you please throw some light? It would be helpful.
Please check this link too….
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Sheikh-Mukhtar-The-tallest-actor-before-Big-B/articleshow/17216134.cms
It’s told in this post, “Tragically, on the same day the film released, he succumbed to a heart attack”
As per another source, positive verdict came out after the actor’s demise.
Different sites are quoting differently and I would like to know the real truth.
Eagerly waiting for your reply so that i can make suitable changes after that. No issues. In fact I would be privileged 🙂
Shaikh mukhtar is a very good actor and nice human being. My uncle acted with him in movie smmugler. Shaikh mukhtar ji is best
Can u pls tell me who is ur uncle?