Reported by Mumbai Mirror
Playing a petty pickpocket with irresistible aplomb in C.I.D. (1955), the iconic Johnny Walker took audiences through a city of striking contrasts singing “Ae dil hai mushkil jeena yahan… Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan.” On the one hand, Bombay boasted stately Art Deco buildings, palm-tree-lined sea fronts, broad avenues, rumbling trams, horse-drawn Victorias, Plymouths, textile mills, and a unique work culture.
On the other, it could be a cold, unforgiving landscape. Having experienced its harsh underbelly while struggling for a living, the comedian sang the track with such infectious chutzpah that it became the defining anthem of the metropolis.
Born as Badruddin Kazi on 11 November 1926 in Indore, the late actor would have celebrated his centenary this year. Delightfully, despite being a lifelong teetotaller who never touched a drop of alcohol, Kazi was rechristened after the famous Scotch whisky brand by filmmaker Guru Dutt, who was thoroughly mesmerised by Kazi’s uncanny impression of a stumbling drunkard.
Long before Baazi (1951) changed his fortunes, the comedian endured a crushing early life. After his father lost his job at an Indore cotton mill, his large family relocated first to Deolali and then to Bombay. Starting out selling ice candy in Deolali at the tender age of fourteen, Kazi later sold fruits and vegetables on the streets of Bombay to support his household.
