Noor Mohammed Charlie

Noor Mohammed Charlie (，1 July 1911 – 30 June 1983), popularly known as Charlie, was a Pakistani actor and comedian.

Best known for his comedy roles, he was the first 'star' comedian and has been referred to as India's first comedy king. He acted with several top actresses of the day as a comic hero. Being a great fan of Charlie Chaplin, he took "Charlie" as his screen name following the release of his popular film The Indian Charlie (1933). He had a successful career in pre-partition India from 1925–1946. After shifting to Pakistan following the partition of India he acted in less than a dozen films.

Early life Noor Mohammed was born in 1911 in Ranavav village, Porbandar, Saurashtra, British India into a Memon family. Hating school as a young boy, Noor Mohammed often played truant to visit cinema theatres. At an early age he started working to repair broken umbrellas. Ezra Mir directed film Zarina in 1932 with the advent of Talkies made him a popular actor. He acted under Ezra Mir in one more film Premi Pagal (1933) and with Sarvottam Badami in Chandrahasa (1933). These films made him very popular with the audience. The 1940s saw him acting in several hit films. Musafir (1940), directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi, in which Charlie played a foreign-returned prince who on his return finds his kingdom in a mess, became very popular. Other films of this time include Dhandora (1941), which he directed, A. R. Kardar's Pagal (1941), Jayant Desai's Bansari (1943), Mehboob Khan's Taqdeer (1943), Jayant Desai's Manorama (1944), Mahesh Chandra's Chand Tara (1945), Zia Sarhadi's Yateem (1945) and Phani Majumdar's Insaaf (1946).

Family and death Noor Mohammed Charlie had six sons and six daughters. He returned to Pakistan from US and died on 30 June 1983 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Noor Mohammed's grandson through Latif Charlie is Yawar Charlie, who was a former actor having acted in TV episodes of JAG and General Hospital and now specialises in West Hollywood CA Homes and Property Listings. His gay wedding made headlines in South Asia Another grandson, again through Latif Charlie, is RJ Dino Ali. His other grandson through another son, Noorarash Charlie, is a designer/theater actor based in Tehran.

Influences Chandulal Shah, the owner of Ranjit Film Company stated in one of his interviews that Charlie "ruled the roost" among comedians. According to film historian Harish Raghuvanshi as quoted in Times of India, "Noor Mohammed developed a style of comedy of his own, which influenced great comedians like Johnny Walker and Mehmood."

He was the first comedian to have songs picturised on him. His "Palat Tera Dhyan Kidhar Hai", under the music direction of Naushad and with lyrics by Arshad Gujarati remains popular with copies in later films. His other popular song was "Zindagi Hai Fareb Fareb Se Nibhaaye Jaa" from Chand Tara (1945). This trend of a singing comedian was later picked up by Johnny Walker and Mehmood. His film Barrister's Wife (1935) had the first filmi qawwali picturised on him to appear in Indian Cinema, "Nazariya Taane Hai Teer Kaman", composed by Rewashankar, and "Banne Khan", with lyrics by Pandit Narayan Prasad Betaab.

Filmography

India Year Film Director 1932 Sharafi Loot D. N. Madhok 1932 Zarina Ezra Mir 1932 Premi Pagal Ezra Mir 1933 The Indian Charlie 1933 Chandrahasa Sarvottam Badami 1934 Mohabbat Ki Kasauti P. C. Barua 1934 Toofan Mail Jayant Desai 1934 Toofani Taruni Chandulal Shah 1934 Sitamgarh Jayant Desai 1934 Farzand-e-Hind aka Leatherface Vijay Bhatt 1934 Nadira Jayant Desai 1935 Noor-e-Watan Jayant Desai 1935 Keemti Aansu Chandulal Shah 1935 Raat Ki Rani College Kanya 1935 Barrister's Wife Chandulal Shah 1935 Desh Dasi Chandulal Shah 1936 Sipahi Ki Sajni Chandulal Shah 1936 Laheri Laila Jayant Desai 1936 Rangila Raja Jayant Desai 1936 Raj Ramani Jayant Desai 1936 Jwalamukhi D. N. Madhok 1936 Chalak Chor Raja Sandow 1936 Matlabi Duniya Jayant Desai 1936 Dil Ka Daku D. N. Madhok 1937 Dil Farosh D. N. Madhok 1937 Pardesi Pankhi Chandulal Shah 1937 Shama Parwana D. N. Madhok 1937 Zambo M. D. Bhavnani Zameen Ka Chand Jayant Desai 1938 Secretary Chaturbhuj Doshi 1938 Ghunghatwali Kanjibhai Rathod 1938 Rikshawala Ezra Mir 1938 Bazigar Manibhai Vyas 1939 Ban Ki Chidiya Jayant Desai 1939 Nadi Kinare Manibhai Vyas 1939 Thokar A. R. Kardar 1940 Aaj Ka Hindustan Jayant Desai 1940 Achhut Chandulal Shah 1940 Musafir Chandulal Shah 1941 Dhandora Charlie 1941 Pagal A. R. Kardar 1943 Taqdeer Mehboob Khan 1943 Sanjog A. R. Kardar 1943 Bansari Jayant Desai 1943 Pagli Shankar Mehta 1944 Raunaq Dwarka Khosla 1944 Manorama Jayant Desai 1944 Us Paar Chimanlal M. Luhar 1945 Ghazal Zahur Raja 1945 Chand Tara Mahesh Chandra 1945 Yateem Zia Sarhadi 1946 Aayi Bahar Shankar Mehta 1946 Dulha Manibhai Vyas 1946 Insaf Phani Majumdar 1960 Zameen Ke Taare Chandulal Shah 1961 Zamana Badal Gaya Jayant Desai 1963 Akeli Mat Jaiyo Nandlal Jaswantlal

Pakistan Year Film Language Director 1950 Beqarar Urdu Nazir Ajmeri 1951 Akeli Urdu M. M. Mehra 1956 Umar Marvi Sindhi Sheikh Hassan 1958 Pardesi Sindhi S. A. Ghaffar 1958 Sitaron Ki Dunya Urdu M. H. Mohib 1958 Prai Zamin Urdu Sheikh Hassan 1965 Pilpili Sahib Urdu Aslam Irani 1967 Kafir Urdu M. Saleem 1969 Pyar Ki Jeet Urdu Jameel Mirza