Johnny Walker – the evergreen comedian of bollywood.
Johnny Walker had contributed a lot in bollywood films with his comedy performance over 30 years. He was a friend of Guru Dutt, and always got good roles in his films. In Mr.&Mrs 55 he accompanied Guru Dutt who married Madhubala under a typical condition set by Lalita Power. Johny Walker’s lips in the song “jane kaha mera” sung by Rafi is worth mentioning.
In Pyasa, in 1957, he played the role of a poor man who earned his livelihood by doing oil message. In the film he was shown as a honest human being who had some humanity as opposed to brothers of Guru Dutt including Mehmood who were only interested about money. The song in the film “sar jot era chakrae” sung by Rafi became very very successful due to effortless lips of Johny Walker.
In Madhumati, he played the role of staff of Dilip Kumar who was used in the place where he was working. He was drunkard. When a group of people came to visit the hilly region including a girl who resembled Vaijayantimala, he thought her to be ghost and informed a tantrik to get rid of the ghost. He depicted the innocence of an uneducated character in the film. He gave elegant lips in the song “jangal me mor nacha” sung by Rafi and composed by Salil Chowdhury which became very big hit.
In Naya Daur, he helped Dilip Kumar and the other villagers who were building a bridge with his urbanised expertise. He gave good lips in the song “mai babai ka babu” in that film also, sung by Rafi and composed by OP Nayyar.
Johnny Walker also acted as central character in some films like Chu Mantar, and important roles in Raj Kapoor’s Chori Chori and Rajender Kumar’s Mere Mehboob. In the 70s, he acted in less number of films but made a comeback in Shaan, as the uncle of Vindiya Goswami. Even at an old age his performance in Kamal Hassan’s Chachi 420, attracted the attention of viewers. He played the role of the husband of Chachi, which was an imaginary character. Johnny Walker was an indispensable comedian in bollywood films in the 50s and 60s, and his films still have an everlasting appeal in the minds of viewers even today.
By: Rumi Chatterji.
