By:
Screen
Weekly,
IndiaFM
Wednesday,
August
29,
2007
His
family
loves
him
best
as
Wajid
Ali
Shah
in
Shatranj
Ke
Khiladi.
"It
also
happened
to
be
Amjad's
personal
favourite," says
his
wife
Shehla
Khan.
Hum
Se
Badhkar
Kaun
is
also
one
of
Amjad
Khan's
films
his
children,
Shadaab,
Ahlam
and
Seemab,
watch
often,
even
today.
"He
played
a
rural
simpleton;
the
character
was
so
refreshing,"
says
daughter
Ahlam,
a
scriptwriter.
However,
the
family
has
no
regrets
that
Khan's
Gabbar
Singh
success
was
not
repeated
in
his
other
movies.
"Ramesh
Sippy
spotted
him
during
one
of
the
shows
of
his
play
To
This
Night
A
Don,"
recollects
Shehla.
Amjad
read
a
lot
before
enacting
the
role;
he
even
had
inputs
on
how
the
character
should
look.
All
that
contributed
to
the
everlasting
image
of
Gabbar
Singh."
"Contrary
to
popular
opinion,
he's
never
won
a
National
Award,"
says
Shadaab.
"He
didn't
want
to
do
Himmatwala,
so
he
asked
for
Rs
15
Lakh.
By
default,
he
became
the
highest-paid
character
actor
of
the
time."
His
children
say
that
often
their
father's
humour
crossed
limits.
"He
even
encouraged
us
to
bunk
school,"
says
Ahlam.
"We
used
to
have
a
great
time
when
we
accompanied
him
to
outdoor
locations."
Even
15
years
after
his
sudden
death,
Khan
is
conspicuous
by
his
absence
at
his
palatial
Khar
residence-surprisingly
enough;
there
are
no
photographs
of
the
actor
in
the
drawing
room.
"I
don't
want
to
think
he's
no
longer
with
us.
I
don't
watch
any
of
his
movies,"
says
Shehla.
"His
role
in
Rudaali
turned
out
to
be
a
foreboding,"
says
Shehla.
"I
had
reservations
with
him
in
such
a
mournful
character.
But
fortunately,
he
never
grew
old
for
us."