(From top) Mehmood with Tracy; in Kunwara Baap; with his children; and with Aroona Irani

It is true that women have been my weakness. But can any man cross his heart and say that women are not his weakness? But I never coerced any women nor did I force any women to get into bed with me. Every woman with whom I enjoyed my life came willingly. Whatever I did, I did openly and without a care for the world, whether it was women or racing, whether it was drugs or anything else. I did everything before the world. Perhaps it was because of this that people looked at me as a bad person.

I never took advantage of the fact that I was a producer myself. I did not sign any contracts with newcomers of the kind that producer Subhash Ghai signed with actress Mahima Chaudhary. It is exploitation of the newcomers.

No actor or technician can say that Mehmood cheated them for money or exploited them. If I sang a song for a film I never took money for it while today’s actors actually ask for money to come for their own dubbing. The truth is that today’s actors have fallen to the level where they take money to cut ribbons at inaugurations and even to participate in a funeral of a rich man.

Along with good deeds I have also committed sins. I am the man who broke promises I made to my mother. I promised her I would arrange for the marriage of my sisters, I would respect my father, I would never lie, I would not borrow, I would support the poor relatives with my own money and that I would never take drugs or give in to any other addiction.

Of these, I arranged for the wedding of my sisters including that of Salma, the daughter of my aunt. I respected my father. But I did not fulfil the other promises. To make a film, I had to borrow. One has to lie in business and in love. I had stopped talking to my father because I was afraid I would misbehave with him. I used to get irritated by his excessive drinking.

I have respected all religions, not just what my own religion Islam teaches. I go to mosques, temples, churches, gurdwaras because God is everywhere. I had promised myself that if my film, Kunwara Baap, was a hit, I would go to Vaishno Devi and I did. If we can speak to people of all religions, have business relations with them, participate in their weddings and deaths, then why can’t we have a relationship with all religions? After all, we belong to the same God. No religion in this world teaches a human being to hate another, kill another or torture another. People who fight in the name of religion do not belong to any sect or religion. We Indians must learn from Sunil Dutt and Nargis who married and lived a successful married life. If these two could make a family, why can’t India become one whole family?

Right from my childhood, I have felt that Lord Shiva has blessed me. Shiva is also known as Mahesh. Years ago, Shubha Khote had once remarked that any of my films where my character was named Mahesh always became a hit. Chhoti Behen, Love in Tokyo, Ziddi, Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai, Do Kaliyan, Naya Zamana and Kunwara Baap and several such movies are examples of this. Shubha once said that Lord Shiva has blessed me and suddenly I remembered a dream I had seen as a child. In the dream, I am leaning against a street lamp-post at the side of a road. A tall man wearing garlands exactly like Shiva comes towards me. Whoever comes in his way is blown to pieces. He comes to me and picks me up. I remember waking up screaming. My aunt Bi Ma also remembered the night and the scream. She had also told me that soon after that I had fallen violently ill. Years later one day, Dada Muni (Ashok Kumar) saw my receding hairline and said, “Mehmood, you are going bald.” Then he came close and with his ballpoint pen marked a shape following the hairline. Its form looked like Lord Shiva’s weapon, the trident. He showed it to me, too. I remembered what Shubha had said, as well as the dream, and have believed since then that I am blessed by Lord Shiva. It is such a sad thing today that people are talking of demolishing temples and mosques just to be able to grab the chair. But in my farmhouse I have built a mosque as well as a small temple of Lord Shiva. I am Mehmood Ali, not Mehmood Gaznavi who had looted the Somnath temple. My religion Islam does not permit looting or demolishing any temple.

Yes, it is true that a few years ago my sons were upset with me and had even left home. They were angry with Tracy too and had even stopped talking to her. But my sons and I were all responsible for this conflict. I had given Rs 6 lakh each to Pakki Ali, Lucky Ali and Maqdoom Ali so that they could invest the money and make a living out of the investment. But they chose to take a trip abroad and blew it all up. At the time they were not taking life seriously. Later when they actually needed money, I refused to give them any and the three of them left home. I too did not care.

My mistake was that I should have invested the money on their behalf rather than just giving it to them. I thank God that now my sons have found their own vocations and are on the right track.

The Income Tax Department raided my house several times. Whenever they raided Na Aapa’s [Meena Kumari] house or the houses of any of my producers, they automatically raided my house too. But till date, no income tax officer has found a single illegal farthing in my house. I had even bashed up an income tax officer in my house once because during the raid, he tore up the teddy bear I had brought from America for my daughter Masooma. Masooma had died and I was attached to the teddy bear. I would sleep with the lifeless toy and remember my little child. I was so angry with the officer for having torn the toy that I pulled down his trousers saying I wanted to frisk him too. I charged him with sneaking in illegal weapons into the house and getting me trapped in a fake case. Of course the whole episode turned out to be expensive. It was my mistake to treat a government officer in such a manner. But I have always paid my taxes. I had to even sell a large portion of my farmhouse to meet my tax dues once. It is the duty of every Indian to pay taxes on time. The fact is that often the names of filmstars figure in lists of tax defaulters read out in Parliament. But you would never have heard the name of Mehmood in those lists.

Filmstars don’t only drive their audience mad, often they are crazy about each other too. Hema Malini was one such actress. All the male stars of her time were crazy about her. Jeetendra and Sanjeev Kumar were in the lead in the race for Hema. Of course, Sanjeev Kumar would fall in love with all his female costars. He would give his heroines a red sari, saying that it had been selected by his mother to give to her daughter-in-law. Hema, of course, was wise enough not to get involved with any of them. During the shooting of the film, Waris, Hema invited Jeetendra and me to her dance show. When Jeetendra got the invite he thought it was the real “invitation” and convinced himself that Hema liked him, was even in love with him. On that high note, in that hot summer, Jeetendra came to the show wearing the warm suit he wore in Waris. Hema would wave as part of the dance sequence and Jeetendra would feel she was waving at him. After a little hesitation he, too, began to wave back. After the show we got together and I asked Hema whether she had seen us from the stage. A surprised Hema said it was not possible to recognise anyone from that distance. Jeetendra turned pale at that. Of course, Jeetu is a nice man and forgave me for that. Many of our films together were hits. Jeetu’s biggest asset is that he does not get involved in any controversies nor does he criticise anybody.

Actually, in the beginning, Hema didn’t pay attention to Dharmendra either. But Dharmendra was stubborn. When I was shooting in Madras with Hema, Dharmendra would come there, ostensibly to see me, but actually to somehow get to talk to Hema. Finally it happened and Hema fell for his charms. I played a key role in getting the two lovers together. I would stand guard outside Hema’s makeup room when the two were alone inside. Whenever I saw Hema’s mother, Jaya Chakravorty, coming from afar, I would whistle. That was the signal for Dharmendra to get out of the room. Dharam is a good friend of mine. We did have fights over his affair with Na Appa [Meena Kumari] but we never let them come in the way of our professional relationship. Dharam also helped me a lot.

Extracted from
Mehmood
A Man Of Many Moods
by Hanif Zaveri; Popular Prakashan; Rs 225