Jagdeep

Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffrey (29 March 1939 – 8 July 2020), better known by his stage name Jagdeep, was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in more than 400 films. He played Soorma Bhopali in Sholay (1975), Machchar in Purana Mandir (1983), Salman Khan's dad in Andaz Apna Apna (1994) and directed the film Soorma Bhopali, with his character as the protagonist.

Early life

Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffrey, later known as Jagdeep, was born into a relatively affluent family, as his father served as a lawyer for the local maharaja of Datia. He was the youngest among ten siblings, with the eldest brother being decades older. Around the age of seven or eight, Jagdeep's father died. His mother moved with him to Karachi to stay with her elder sons before the Partition, but they returned to India amid the communal violence and upheaval. Upon returning to Bombay (now Mumbai), Jagdeep and his mother experienced severe hardship. They were unable to reconnect with his elder brothers and ended up living on the streets, even under a bridge in Byculla. To survive, young Jagdeep sold clothes, toys, kites, soap, and combs. When money ran out, they subsisted on bread crumbs discarded by a bakery, scavenging for crumbs off the floor and cleaning them before eating—even removing rat and cockroach droppings.

Career

Jagdeep started his film career as a child artist extra in B. R. Chopra's Afsana in 1951, then went on to do films as a child artist in films like Ab Dilli Door Nahin, K. A. Abbas's Munna, Guru Dutt's Aar Paar, Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zamin and AVM's Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke.