A K Hangal, the gentle, caring and a compassionate actor: The

passing of an era
By R N Ghosh
Avtar Kishan Hangal, popularly known as AK Hangal or more endearingly
Hangal saab to his countless admirers, at one time active in the popular
group theatre of the progressive leaning Indian Peoples Theatre
Association (IPTA), and who later came into prominence with character
roles in Hindi cinema of a father, uncle, grandfather or that of a decent,
humble, meek, submissive, ever suffering and oppressed old man with
values and principles, passed away at the ripe old age of 98, ringing down
curtains on an era evoking of socially meaningful and socially relevant
cinema. A passionate theatre person, his association with the IPTA where
he worked with the great thespian Balraj Sahni and the progressive Urdu
poet Kaifi Azmi, gradually brought him into films in the mid-sixties when he
was already 50. From there, it was a very endearing and self-satisfying
journey as a character actor in films like Namak Haraam, Abhiman, Sholay,
Bawarchi, Chitchor, Balika badhu, Guddi, Tapasya, Aandhi, Kora Kagaz,
Avtaar, Chupa Rustam, Aaina and many more, considered to be among his
best, the characters were essentially that of a sensitive, humane, caring,
lovable, gentle, kind soul, who retains his quiet dignity amidst poverty,
deprivation and societal injustice, of a neighbourhood chacha or uncle
whose principled sufferings held up a mirror to the myriad ills of the
society, of inequities and injustice, of assault on dignity and fair play.
Born into a Kashmiri Pandit family, his journey had seen remarkable
vicissitudes of life, when a young Hangal was so moved by the martyrdom
of Bhagat Singh to have lifelong adherence to progressive and egalitarian
beliefs, his plunging into the freedom struggle, his taking up the vocation
of a tailor for some time to make both ends meet, an occupation and
pursuit he accorded the same amount of dignity and self-respect as he did
later as a creative personality. Despite starting late in films, he acted in
more than 200 films, but remained alienated from the glitz, glamour and
unreal world of Hindi cinema knowing full well that given his ideological
and political background, his sensitivity and commitment to social causes,

he would always remain disconnected with the popular medium as the

commercial cinema, not grounded in social realities, tended to airbrush the
grim socio-economic concerns afflicting the majority. It still does and the
disconnect of the mainstream cinema with the unwashed masses is
complete. His working with Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee in
the middle-of-the-road cinema, devoid of the formulaic presentations of the
commercial films, brought alive the realistic situations of everyday
occurrences in the lives of ordinary middle class Indians, mundane and
routine, commonplace and nothing extraordinary or larger than life, of
usual humdrum existence, of struggling to lead an honest life with dignity.
Hangal saheb epitomized those eternal values of simplicity, honesty,
decency, humility and compassion for the underprivileged. A simple man,
he had no enemies and was truly an ajatshatru, a person who bore no ill
will or rancour towards others, who espoused progressive, rational and
humanitarian values all through his life. His loss is a loss to ideals of good,
clean and sensitive cinema, evoking of humanitarian ethos and to all those
who value decency and compassion to the suffering humanity.
One was filled with intense sadness when nearly two years back, Hangal
saheb's son appealed for financial assistance to tide over multiple health
problems his father was facing, as hard times had fallen on this innately
good man, a sensitive soul. It was to the credit of Jaya Bachchan, Mithun
Chakravorty and other who had worked with him that assistance poured in
to help Hangal saheb in his hour of distress. Hangal sahebs plight brought
to the fore the unfortunate state of those performing artists who too had
suffered abject penury in their last days. The yesteryear actor Bharat
Bhushan (Baiju Bawra, Mirza Ghalib) died in dire straits. Pandit VG Jog died
after a prolonged illness in penury. Dhrupad exponent Asghari Bai was
living on a monthly government stipend of Rs.500 a month. The great
Dadasaheb Phalke, had a sad end in 1942; he died in poverty with
bitterness and loneliness as his company. The yesteryear Hindi film actress
of the forties and fifties, Nalini Jaywant, who had acted opposite screen
legends Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar, died alone, unsung, unheard and
forgotten. It is sad that as a society, we do not give artistes their due
recognition, especially those who are unable or unwilling to market their
talents. There is hardly any social insurance or a fall back option for such

sensitive artistes, who might not have cared much for material concerns,
when they were in their prime, only to rue later when age, fate and fortune
willed it otherwise.
While an artiste of Hangal sahebs calibre was unable to muster even a
paltry sum for meeting his medical expenses, the multi-million
extravaganzas or rather mindless entertainments, mounted on lavish scale
primarily for NRI audiences and upscale multiplexes, rake in hundreds of
millions. The mainstream films may have become technically slicker with
better production values matching even those from Hollywood, but remain
extremely restrictive in their concerns, catering primarily to a small,
privileged section of the urban middle class, lacking soul and are detached
from the larger concerns of the majority. Hangal sahebs absence would be
felt more as he remained a beacon of hope for those filmmakers and actors
who would like cinema once again to become a medium for creating social
awareness and bringing change and be a vehicle for ushering in a gentler,
kinder, more caring and compassionate society.