With the present craze of the 3 Khans and their domination over the Indian psyche, people are apt to forget that there was one actor who put India on the world cinema map. He was IS Johar who has the distinction of starring in Hollywood movies; something the 3 Khans have not been able to do.
IS Johar was a revolutionary actor who was also a film producer. Originally from Punjab( Lahore), Johar made Mumbai his home and from here he acted in a number of Hollywood movies as well. Nobody can forget his role as the servant of Stewart Granger in 'Harry Black and the Tiger'. This Hollywood movie made in 1956 with Barbara Rush was an adventure film where Johar stole the limelight. He was nominated for the BAFTA award and perhaps he would have won it, but for the bias against him as an Indian . I saw this movie twice as school student and later on the video. There is no doubt that the real star of the movie was IS Johar
He also acted in 'Lawrance of Arabia'(1962), Death on the Nile,(1978)North West frontier(1960) and a US TV serial Maya(1966). In all these films Johar did justice to his roles and it is to his credit that he could hold his own against actors of the caliber of Stewart Granger and PeterO Toole.
Johar was a non conformist and married 4 times, a pretty high number in India. But for all of us he will remain the one star who put Indian cimema on the world map. The road to international fame for Indian cinema starts with IS Johar.
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