The funny teetotaller

Happy 100th B’day, Johnny Walker

Here’s looking back at Johnny Walker, the legendary comic who paved the way for Mehmood and Johny Lever

Kabir Singh Bhandari

Badruddin Jamaluddin Khan Kazi (Johnny Walker’s original name), whose 100 birth centenary was on November 11, was not merely a legendary comedian because he was funny, he was a trailblazer who paved the way for others such as Mehmood and Johny Lever. To be specific, scenes in films used to be written just for him, a practice which producers and directors continued with Mehmood and Lever.

BEST buses to silver screen

One of 12 twelve children of a weaving teacher, his family moved from Indore to Mumbai when his father lost his job, and Kazi became a bus conductor, entertaining passengers with his comical antics apart from just cutting tickets. Actor Balraj Sahni introduced him to Guru Dutt after spotting him, and Dutt is the one who coined the name Johnny Walker, taking a cue from his funny depiction of a drunkard, resulting in his first film, Baazi (1951). 

Tailor-made songs

Walker became such a bit that just his presence in a movie guaranteed a film’s commercial success. In the 1950s and 1960s, even songs were written just for him, with distributors ready to pay extra to ensure that he would be there in a song. Songs such as Aye Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahan (C.I.D., 1956) and Sar Jo Tera Chakraye (Pyaasa, 1957) were written keeping his personality in mind.  

Dutt made sure to write a part for Walker in each of his films, except one. In Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), Dutt kept telling director Abrar Alvi to include a Walker track in the movie, but Alvi argued that it would ruin the sombre theme of the movie. 

Behind the ‘drunkard’

The most surprising part about him? Walker was a teetotaller and claimed that he had never drunk alcohol in his life, despite his claim to fame being his portrayal of alcoholics. 

Apart from all of this, there will always be respect for him for a different reason - because he refused to perform vulgar comedy, and those who wanted him to be part of their movies needed to have character driven witty humour infused. It is said that Walker was the first actor to keep a secretary/manager and not work on Sundays. 

He paved the way for other legends such as Mehmood and Lever, for whom special comic sub-plots were included in movies. Just like Walker, both Mehmood and Lever were such scene stealers, that certain lead actors refused to be in the same scene with them at times. Over time, heroes also would tell directors to give them the funny lines instead, ultimately leading to the shrinkage of such comedians in films.