145;There146;s only one Mehmood146;

My first meeting with him was in 1980 at Kalyanjibhai8217;s studio. I did many stage shows with him as well. He used to love it when I would mimic him. My last meeting with him was two months ago, in Pennyslvania.

The most touching moment of my life was when he came for Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, the Zee TV show. He could barely breathe and travelled with an oxygen cylinder all the way from Bangalore to Delhi, just because he wanted to be a part of my khushi.

Mehmoodsaab could do it all: mimicry, dance, singing, acting and looking good. I used to tell him that he has done everything imaginable and possible in comedy, now there is nothing else left for anyone else to do. As a mimicry artist and comedian, I admired his ability to pick up accents. He could say any boli. Also, he had tremendous confidence to go for different costumes in almost all his films.

I remember the film Dil Tere Deewana where Mehmoodsaab was in drag and Shammi Kapoor was singing the song Dharakne Lagta Hai Mera Dil Tere Naam Se. Mehmoodsaab didn8217;t have a single line in the song yet the audience would go berserk when they saw his close-up shot.

Such starpower for a comedian is unparalleled. He was a bigger star than many of the so-called leading men. In Humjoli, he played a triple role and with due respect to Jeetendraji, the film is remembered because of him. Ditto for movies like Padosan, Gumnaam, Do Phool and Lakhon Mein Ek.

Today, if I say that I don8217;t have dates for a film, the producer will be only too happy to take Rajpal Yadav or Sajid Khan. But in Mehmoodsaab8217;s case, they would wait even for four years because nobody could do what he could.

There is only one Mehmood but you can get three to four Johny Levers.

As told to Harneet Singh