The fees were more than Prithviraj Kapoor: Noor Mohammad, who repaired umbrellas, is the first comedy king, went to Pakistan during partition, the government did not allow him to return

The first star comedian of Hindi cinema, Noor Mohammed Charlie. Noor Mohammad, who once repaired umbrellas for a living, joined cinema at the age of just 14 through a lie and changed history. When melodrama and songs were the only machines to make films a hit, Noor Mohammad changed the definition of entertainment by introducing comedy.

Noor Mohammed, who had wonderful expressions and a Hitler moustache, used to imitate Charlie Chaplin so well that the film Indian Charlie Chaplin was made on him. Charlie achieved such stardom from this film that he changed his name to Noor Mohammad Charlie.

Noor Mohammed's status in the early decades of Hindi cinema was such that he was paid more than even the star Prithviraj Kapoor of that time. After silent films, when the era of talking films came, Noor Mohammad won the hearts of the audience with songs also.

This is the reason that as soon as the name of Star Comedy was added, the distributors used to buy the films at a nominal amount. Famous comedians Johnny Walker and Mehmood were also admirers of Noor Mohammad Charlie and became famous by imitating him.

Noor Mohammad was at the peak of his career when the partition of India-Pakistan in 1947 turned his life upside down. Noor Mohammad, along with many other artists, decided to settle in Pakistan, which proved to be his biggest mistake.

He worked in Pakistan, but could not achieve the stardom that he got in India. When he wanted to return to India to get his career back on track, the government did not allow him to do so. He was forced to stay in Pakistan. When he died in 1983, no big artist of Pakistan attended his funeral.

Today in Unsunni Dastan, read the story of stardom and a wrong decision of India's first comedy king and Indian Charlie Chaplin –

left studies to watch drama

Noor Mohammed was born on 1 July 1911 in a Menon family of Ranavav village near Porbandar, slave India. Noor Mohammed was just 2 years old when India's first film Raja Harishchandra was released in 1913. When cinema started amidst limited mediums of entertainment, it was discussed across the country. Noor Mohammad started getting inclined towards theater from an early age.

Noor used to repair umbrellas to eradicate poverty of his family.

He used to leave school and run away to watch the plays of the drama company coming to his village. This was the reason why he became weak in studies. With increasing age, he completely lost his attention from studies.

Meanwhile, his family faced financial crisis. In such a situation, Noor Mohammad took the responsibility of the family on his shoulders and started working in an umbrella making shop in Bombay (now Mumbai). He started earning decent income from umbrella repairing work, but Noor Mohammad was still more focused on cinema than work.

Got my first job through a lie

One day while making an umbrella, Noor Mohammad decided that he too would work in films. With this intention, one day in 1925, he went straight to the famous Imperial Film Company of Bombay. When he asked for work in a film studio, he was asked what he does.

Due to fear of not getting work, Noor Mohammad started narrating the list of lies one by one. Said, I can sing, ride horse, fight, do whatever you ask. The fortunate thing was that Noor Mohammad was not asked to sing.

This was the period when people working in films had to face great difficulties. People had to be persuaded even for small tasks, but when Noor Mohammad gave a false list of his skills, the studio people had no option to refuse him. This is how the film journey of 14 year old Noor Mohammad began.

After working with this studio for some time, Noor Mohammad got a small role in Krishna Film Company's film Akalna Bardan. This was Noor Mohammed's first film directed by Prafulla Ghosh. Further, he was also given comic scenes in films like Mekh and Vasant Leela.

After Zarina, he was seen in the film Premi Pagal (1933) with Ezra Mir and Chandrahasa with Sarvashtra Badami. Although the film Chandrahasa was a serious film, Noor Mohammad also did some comedy scenes in this film.

Noor Mohammad used to be crazy about comedy films. During the era of silent films, Charlie Chaplin was the only comedian who was recognized in India.

In his films, he was seen imitating his idol Charlie Chaplin. Through facial expressions, body language and gait, he started presenting himself like Charlie. Filmmakers of the 30s took advantage of this and Noor Mohammed's characters started being written in the same way.

Was a fan of Charlie Chaplin, got recognition by imitating him so changed his name

In the 30s, Elfin Film Company made the film Indian Charlie Chaplin with Noor Mohammed. The film was shot in 1929, but due to some problems, it was released in 1933 and proved to be a big hit.

Noor Mohammed achieved stardom with the film and his work received praise across the country. This was the reason why Noor Mohammad changed his name from Noor Mohammad to Noor Mohammad Charlie after his idol and film character. He also changed his look and got a Hitler cut moustache, due to which he came to be called the Indian Charlie Chaplin.

By ending contract culture, he became a freelance actor.

In the early years of Hindi cinema, film studios used to sign contracts with every artist. After the contract was signed, the artist was kept on a monthly salary, but during this time he was prohibited from signing any other studio's film, but Noor Mohammad Charlie ended this culture.

Due to his talent, every new studio wanted to sign Noor Mohammad, in such a situation he used to take the fees of the film and was not bound to any studio. Noor Mohammad's stardom was such that the studio owners used to accept all his conditions.

After making a mark as a hero, Noor Mohammad also tried his hand in writing and direction. The 1941 film Dhandhora was written and directed by Noor Mohammad. He was in the lead role with Husn Bano in the film. The song Palat Tera Dhyan Kithar Hai of this film was very popular.

Noor Mohammad used to charge more than the hero

After a few films, Noor Mohammad started being cast in films as a hero as well as a comedian. Although his fees were still higher than the film's hero. His fees used to be more than that of stars like Prithviraj Kapoor.

This was the reason why Noor Mohammad Charlie was called star comedian and king of comedy. He gave many hit films in the 40s like Musafir (1940), Pagal (1941), Manorama (1944), Yatim (1945), Insaaf (1946). He was paired with the most famous actresses of that era, Swarnlata, Leela Chitnis, Mehtab. He used to record songs with Amirbai Karnataka and Suraiya.

Noor Mohammad Charlie was at the peak of his career when the India-Pakistan partition changed his life forever. This was the period when Khurshid Bano, Noor Jahan, Nisar Bazmi and most of the Muslim artists were leaving India and settling in Pakistan. Noor Mohammad also decided to go to Pakistan along with them.

He started the second innings of his career in Pakistani cinema with the 1949 film Mundri. He further appeared in dozens of Urdu and Sindhi films like Bekraar (1950), Akeli (1950), Pardesi (1958), Parai Zameen (1958), but unfortunately these films were not successful. Noor Mohammad's popularity and stardom faded due to flop films.

Noor Mohammad returned to India, Indian government did not give permission to stay

After giving consecutive flop films in Pakistani cinema, Noor Mohammad Charlie returned to India again in 1960. Here he worked in films like Zameen Ke Taare and Zamana Badal Raha.

He wanted to stay in India and work in Indian cinema, but due to the tense situation between India and Pakistan, the Indian government flatly refused to grant him citizenship. He was forced to return to Pakistan. After working in Pakistani films for some time, Noor Mohammad went to the US to be with his son.

Returned to Pakistan after wife's death

After spending a few years in the US, Noor Mohammad returned to Pakistan after the death of his wife, where he died on 30 June 1983. Sadly, no big Pakistani celebrity attended the funeral of India's famous comedy king in Pakistan.

Even today the family adds Charlie to its name.

Noor Mohammad's sons Latif Charlie and Noorash are actors in the Pakistani film industry. His grandson Yawar Charlie has also been a part of many TV shows. Noor Mohammad's 3rd generation follows his footsteps and uses the surname Charlie in their names.

Next Saturday, March 9, read the story of Hollywood actress Andreanne Levin, whose murder was shown as suicide. 3 TV shows and 1 film have been made on Andreene. Scholarships are still given in his name at New York University and Columbia University.

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