Jagdeep’s Soorma Bhopali act in Sholay remains etched in filmgoers’ collective memory as a comic summit. But there was so much more to Jagdeep. His role as Soorma Bhopali in Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay became both the milestone and the millstone of his career. Soorma Bhopali almost became Jagdeep’s alias. Years after Sholay, his character in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Andaz Apna Apna was named, don’t laugh, Bankelal Bhopali.
Jagdeep, who came from Indore to Mumbai when he was 9 years old and slept on the streets with his mother, also directed a film called Soorma Bhopali in 1988. Though Jagdeep’s well-wishers in the industry like Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, and Dharmendra made guest appearances in the film, it flopped.
Jagdeep had first appeared on the screen as a winsome child artist in films like Do Bigha Zameen and Aar Paar. As a young man, he played highly emotionally charged and dramatic roles in films like Bhabhi, Patang, Puran Milan, etc. Comedy was his second successful innings.
Speaking on the role of Soorma Bhopali that defines Jagdeep’s career, Javed Akhtar, who co-wrote Sholay, says, “Soorma Bhopali could not have been played by anybody other than him. He worked hard on the Bhopali accent and got it word-perfect. His comic timing was very good, but I rue the fact that he wasn’t given an opportunity to do more emotional and dramatic roles too. Great talent sadly underused.”
Sholay director Ramesh Sippy recalled how Jagdeep’s Soorma Bhopali had to be edited out of Sholay on release. When Sholay released, there was a state of Emergency in India. Sholay was 3 hours 24 minutes long. Even if the first show began at 8:30 am, the last show could get over only by midnight. Those were uncertain times. Plus, the trade experts had slammed Sholay in the opening week and declared it a flop. Back then, films opened in ‘B’ and ‘C’ centres after they played in ‘A’ centres. So before Sholay could release in Punjab, the film’s distributors, Rajshri Productions, went to Ramesh Sippy and very politely asked if they could shorten the film. They, therefore, decided to take out the comedy tracks with Asrani and Jagdeep. But when the film released, there was an outcry about the cuts, so they had to restore them.
Jagdeep’s Soorma Bhopali act became one of the main selling points of Sholay. It became Jagdeep’s big-ticket attraction at live concerts and on-stage performances. When Salim-Javed wrote the character, it was only meant to be a comic diversion, a warm-up before Jai and Veeru reach the Thakur. Little did they know what impact the character would have on the audience.
