Remembering legendary Actor Ajit 1922-98

Ajit Khan was born on 27th January 1922 in Golkonda, Hyderabad, India. He is  known for his work in films like Zanjeer, Mughal-E-Azam, and Naya Daur. His actual name is Hamid Ali Khan.
Ajit, who ran away from home to Mumbai after selling his college books, started his career in films in the 1940s. Luck did not favour him in the initial stages. He began with the 1946 movie Shahe Misra, acting opposite Geeta Bose, and also did films such as Sikander (with Van Mala), Hatimtai (1947), Aap Beeti (with Khursheed), Sone Ki Chidiya (with Leela Kumari), Dholak (with Meena Shori) and Chanda Ki Chandni (with Monica Desai) as leading hero, but flopped. He did the most films  with Nalini Jaywant. Ajit switched over to play the villain. His first movie as a villain was Suraj, followed by films such as Zanjeer and Yaadon Ki Baaraat.

His famous dialogues included the "Mona darling" bit in Yaadon Ki Baraat, "Lily don't be silly" in Zanjeer and the one about a "Lion" in Kallicharan. Ajit's other well known films were Naya Daur, Nastik and Shikari to name only a few. In his four decades of film career, Ajit had acted along with the legendary Prithviraj Kapoor, Sohrab Modi, Amitabh Bachchan, I S Johar, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra and many actresses, both young and old.
In the mid-seventies he had acted in over 57 films, mostly as a villain. His dialogue delivery remains popular even to this date. His colleagues in the film industry — leading personalities who have acted with him, grown up seeing him in Mumbai — have expressed deep sorrow over the death of the legendary actor.
Writer Javed Akhtar, who scripted Zanjeer, said: "Like Bachchan, Ajit found a new image as villain after Zanjeer. He started a new innings in his career though he was an established hero in the fifties. His villainy started a new trend. Here was a new villain who was soft-spoken yet forceful. We wanted to give a different image to villainy which matched the hero."
 Ajit was arguably one of the most talented actors; Hindi film industry has ever produced. His dialogues are still very famous. His discrete style and dialogues like “Mona Darling” are still very famous.  Though he started his career as a lead actor and then switched to supporting actor it was his performance as a villain that have garnered him fame. His villain image has had a great impact on Hindi cinemas.
 Ajit first marriage was with a French lady named Gwen D'Monte. His Second marriage was with Shahida Ali Khan, with whom he has three sons, Shehzad Ali Khan, Shahid Ali Khan and Arbaaz Ali Khan.
Ajit Khan died on 21-10-1998 at age of 76 in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.