India mourns the loss of Junior Mehmood, a beloved performing artist who captivated audiences with his exceptional acting skills and impeccable comic timing in a series of memorable movies.
From being an actor, a comedian, a singer to a Marathi filmmaker and producer, Jr. Mehmood donned many hats in his career spanning four decades.
At the age of 10, Jr. Mehmood, whose real name was Naeem Sayyed, made his acting debut as a child artist with “Mohabbat Zindagi Hai” (1966).
Yesteryear famous child actor Junior Mehmood passed away
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The child actor won praise for mimicking and beautifully recreating late comedy icon Mehmood's iconic song 'Hum Kaale Hain To Kya Hua' from the movie 'Gumnaam' (1965).
His performance in 'Bramachari' bagged him his first Filmfare award.
Since then, there was no looking back for the young actor who went on to act in 265 movies in seven different languages and has also produced and directed six Marathi movies.
Some of his popular movies include 'Naunihal', 'Caravan', 'Haathi Mere Saathi', and 'Mera Naam Joker', 'Brahmachari', 'Kati Patang', 'Hare Raama Hare Krishna', 'Geet Gaata Chal', 'Imaandaar', 'Baap Numbri Beta Dus Numbri', 'Aaj Ka Arjun', 'Gurudev', 'Chhote Sarkar', and 'Judaai'.
Yesteryear famous child actor Junior Mehmood passed away
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Jr. Mehmood also gave a platform to many comedians by organizing talent shows.
The actor also appeared on Hindi Television shows such as 'Pyaar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha Pyaara Pyaara' and 'Ek Rishta Saajhedari ka'.
He got married to Naima Sayyed and had two children - Hasnain Sayyed, who is now a writer, and Hasanrafi Sayyed, a music manager.
On Friday, his son Hasnain Sayyed informed Indian media that his father passed away at 2 A.M. following his battle with stomach cancer.
"He was in a critical condition since the last 17 days and had lost 35-40 kg in a month," Sayyed said.
Bollywood celebrity and fans of Junior Mehmood took to social media to pay tribute and mourn the demise of the actor who succumbed to stomach cancer today.
Yesteryear famous child actor Junior Mehmood passed away
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The actor's burial will take place later in the day at the Santa Cruz cemetery, where his mother and other noted personalities like Bollywood veterans late Dilip Kumar and Mohammed Rafi were buried.