DAS LITERARISCH
ISSN No: 2454 – 4647 (Print Issue) || Vol: 3, Issue 1 || Jan-June 2020
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                                                                                                     Nawab Kashmiri
                                                                                                          Manto
Translated by Sadaf Fareed
(Aligarh, India)
He was just an actor. And actors are considered persons of no value by public at large, in the same way that I am considered a mere story teller. That is, a person of no consequence. But that the prestige in which this person of no consequence holds that person of no consequence, is way beyond the prestige that any person of no consequence has ever attached to another person of no consequence.
He was the master of his art. A person of consequence might be able to tell about his art but if you asked a worker in rags who had spent four annas on watching a film of Nawab Kashmiri, he’d begin to sing his praises and tell you in his special lingo, what all heights of acting had Nawab Kashmiri touched!
When an English king dies, there is a convention that says: “The king is dead. Long live the king!”
Nawab Kashmiri is dead. But for whose long life shall I pray now? To me, other actors are all mere pedestrians in his presence.
I had met Nawab Kashmiri in Bombay. Khan Kashmiri, who was his close relation, was with him at that moment. We sat in a Bombay Film Studio and talked for a long while. After that, I narrated to him a story of mine- for a producing a film based on it. It had no impact on him. And he told me frankly, “It is O. K., but I don’t like it.”
I was impressed with his frank criticism.
The next day I narrated to him another story. While listening, tears fell from his eyes. When I had finished the story, he asked, drying his eyes with a kerchief: “To which film company are you offering this story… I really like the role of a pimp.”
I told him, “No producer is ready to accept this story.”
“To hell with them.” Nawab said.
I had watched the late Nawab for the first time in the film Yahoodi ki Ladki (Daughter of The Jew), in which Ratan Bai was the heroine. Nawab had played the role of ‘Azra-the Jew’.
Actually I had never seen a Jew before I arrived in Bombay. Having met some thereafter, I could say that Nawab justified the role fully. When I had met the late Nawab in Bombay, he had told me that in order to play the part of Azra-the Jew, he had met many Jews in Calcutta and had sat with them for hours. When he felt that he could be equal to the part of Azra-the Jew, he said ‘yes’ to Mr. B. N. Sarkar, the owner of “New Theatres”.
Those who have seen the film Yahoodi ki Ladki, they can never forget Nawab Kashmiri. He had all his teeth pulled out lest his role as an old man and his talk with a hollow mouth be compromised.

Nawab was a great character-actor. He was not ready to act in a film wherein there was no role that he could fit into. That is why, before entering into an agreement with a company, he’d listen to the story first. After that he would practice the role for many days at home. He would stand before the mirror and emote different feelings. When he was satisfied, only then he would sign the agreement.
He loved the plays of Agha Hashr Kashmiri. It is quite amazing how someone who came on to the stage for plays by Imperial Theatrical Company, changed completely once he entered films. There was no theatricalness left in his manners. He would render his dialogues exactly the same way as people converse. For the company I have mentioned above, the late Nawab had earned kudos while acting in plays like “Khoobsurat Balaa”, “Noor-e-Watan” and “Baagh-e-Iran”.
Nawab Kashmiri was the only son of the Syed and Grand Mufti of the Bada Imambada. It is a quirk of fate that the son of the Grand Mufti of Bada Imambada came to be associated with theatre-acting. But since his very childhood, Nawab Kashmiri was fond of theatre.
A theatre company came to perform at Lucknow, whose owner was some Agarwal. Nawab regularly saw the plays staged by the company. He felt that he was born to act in plays. He would come home after watching a play and for hours render its recalled dialogues in his own style.
So, once he appeared before the Company Director and asked him to take his test. When the Director saw his acting and heard his dialogues, he was awe-struck. He employed him immediately in his company. I don’t know how much he was paid.
It was with that company that Nawab arrived in Calcutta and displayed his talent. He became famous as a character-actor. When Cowasji Khatauji saw his acting, he took him to his company- “Alfred Theatre Company”.
Seth Sukhlal Karnani was the owner of “Alfred Theatre Company” and he was a stupid and dumb of the first order. When he heard from his informers that there was an actor named Nawab who was making waves and was inimical in his style, he said in his own unique way: “Get that Bull.”
So, Cowasji Khatauji produced that bull- obviously that bull was Nawab Kashmiri. He was hired for Alfred Theatre on a higher salary. For long- I mean for two years- Nawab acted in the plays of Karnani’s company.
I don’t recall which year was that, but probably it was around the time when Imperial Film Company from Bombay had made its first talkie film: Alam Ara, inaugurating the era of talkie films that Mr. B.N. Sarkar, who was a very well educated and sharp person, founded the ‘New Theatre’. He met Nawab Kashmiri quite regularly. He persuaded Nawab that he leave the world of theatre and join films.
B.N.Sarkar did not consider Nawab as his employee but a dear friend. He was a connoisseur of art. Late Nawab’s first film was Yahoodi ki Ladki. The heroine of that film was Ratan Bai whose hair reached her ankles. The director of that film was a Bengali gentleman, Mr. Atharthi, who is no more in this world. Hafizji and the music director Bali were also part of the team. Whatever transpired among the trio, is beyond the scope of this write-up. 

Mr. Atharthi who was also well-educated and very competent, told me, “There won’t be another actor like Nawab. He fits his role like a hand in its glove…He is a master of his art.”
Hafizji was also a great admirer of Nawab. He used to say that in his life, he had not seen a better actor.
Anyways, leaving all that aside, let me speak of Nawab, the actor. In a film that was perhaps titled Maya, the late Nawab was given the role of a pick-pocket. When he heard the story, he refused the role, observing, “I can’t do this role simply because I am not a pick-pocket. I have never picked the pocket of anyone…”
But then, he frequented a dubious hotel of Calcutta for many days- daily. There, he met many pick-pockets and thieves. It is said that he also drank with them, although he did not drink generally. After a week, he was satisfied. So, he told that owner of the Film Company that he was now ready to play the role of the pick-pocket. Meanwhile, he had also become friends with many criminals and bad characters and had also learned the tricks of their trades. That’s why he played the role very successfully.
The late Nawab was otherwise a saintly person in real life. He had a relation named A. M. Ahmad. He told me that Nawab was a religious person. He was a Shiya and began no work without invoking God. He used to say, “Forget that there are alleged differences between Sunni and Shiya. When these two communities fight, it is obvious that this is more of a mental problem than of religion”. Speaking of the late Nawab, I can never forget that scene in the film Mukti in which he gives some roasted chickpeas to his ‘characterless’ wife. There was so much pain and remorse in his extended hands that no face can ever express it.
In Devdas, when Sehgal slaps him, then for a while he caresses his face where he had been hit and then utters only this, “You hit Dinu Bhai…”. What can I say about this scene. Only the faces of shocked viewers glide past my eyes.
In film Ziddi, the wife of his nephew Kuldeep Kaur, passes by him. Angry, she is going with actor Pran (her lover). The late Nawab Kashmiri is sitting in a chair for invalids. He watches Kuldeep Kaur pass by and in a strange philosophical manner, he says, “she left in a huff…” I don’t want to go into more details but want to let you know something that has not been published in any newspaper as yet- that Nawab Kashmiri’s first wife was from his own land. When was he married to her, I know nothing about it. But he had no issue from her. Disappointed on that score, he began to look around for another alliance. Finally, he married the daughter of the elder son of Nawab of Awadh, Prince Maher Qadr.
When Nawab got married, a shindy was raised in the house. But he did not bother. As a result, his first wife committed suicide. This is, in brief, what happened: when his first wife came to know that her husband had married again, she asked her maid to get a bed spread. Sprinkled kerosene on it. Then put the same oil on her body and also on her clothes. Then she lay down on the bed, lit the matches, put herself on fire and died. Nawab did not know that his first wife had burnt herself. He was in another house with his second wife.
When Nawab came to know that she had died, he arranged for the burial. Later, he came to know that she had made a will at the last moment, “I will my insurance policy of 10,000 rupees in the name of my husband. Besides I also, I leave to him 160 tolas of gold.” On hearing, this Nawab was very shocked. For long, he could smell the kerosene!
Whenever I think about the same, I feel I am the kerosene, I am Nawab Kashmiri. I too am a Kashmiri but not so cruel because for the mere sake of begetting a child, he forced his wife to commit suicide. I too am a Kashmiri. I love Kashmiris but I hate those Kashmiris who ill-treat their wives.
I am a fan of the late Nawab. I consider him a great artist. But later,whenever I saw him on the screen, I could smell the kerosene.
May God grant him hell, for he’ll be happy there!
[Translator’s Note: Saadat Hasan Manto, before he migrated to Pakistan, had spent a significant part of his life in Bombay working with the film industry. He worked in close association with many great actors and film personalities of the time. Later, he wrote sketches of many of those, like Ashok Kumar and Nargis. These were published collectively as Meena Bazar. Nawab Kashmiri was a well-known actor of the time and this is Manto’s sketch of him.]