Amjad Khan Age, Death Cause, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio
Real Name	Amjad Zakaria Khan
Profession	Actor and Director
Famous Role	Gabbar Singh (film- Sholay)
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 178 cm in meters- 1.78 m in feet inches- 5’ 10”
Weight (approx.)	in Kilograms- 120 kg in Pounds- 265 lbs
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Black
Personal Life
Date of Birth	12 November 1940
Birth Place	Peshawar, British India (Now Pakistan)
Date of Death	27 July 1992
Place of Death	Mumbai, India
Age (at the time of death)	51 Years
Death Cause	Heart Attack (after a severe road-accident)
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Scorpio
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Mumbai, India
School	St. Andrew's High School, Bandra, Bombay (Now Mumbai)
College	R. D. National College, Mumbai
Educational Qualification	A post-graduate in Philosophy
Debut	As a Child Actor:- Nazneen (1951) As an Adult Actor:- Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973) As an Assistant Director- Love And God (Produced in 1963 & Released in 1986) As a Director- Chor Police (1983)
Famous Dialogues	• “Kitne Aadmi thhe?" • “Ab Tera Kya Hoga Kalia?” • “Holi Kab Hai, Kab Hai Holi?” • “Jo Dar Gaya, Samjho Mar Gaya” • “Yeh Haath Hum Ko De De, Thakur”
Family	Father- Jayant aka Zakaria Khan (Actor) Mother- Qamar Brothers- Imtiaz Khan, Inayat Khan Sister- None
Religion	Islam
Ethnicity	Pashtun
Hobbies	Driving, Listening to Music, Playing Badminton
Favourite Things
Favourite Musician	R. D. Burman
Favourite Actors	Amitabh Bachchan, Amrish Puri
Favourite Actress	Madhubala
Favourite Singers	R. D. Burman, Kishore Kumar
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Shehla Khan
Wife/Spouse	Shehla Khan (m. 17 August 1972-27 July 1992)
Marriage Date	17 August 1972
Children	Sons- Shadaab Khan, Seemaab Khan Daughter- Ahlam Khan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Amjad Khan

• Did Amjad Khan smoke?: Yes 

• Did Amjad Khan drink alcohol?: No

• He was born to legendary actor Jayant in Peshawar, Pakistan.

• His family is of Afghani Pashtun descent.

• Before coming to films, Amjad was a theatre actor.

• When he was only 11 years old, he appeared as a Child Actor in the film Nazneen (1951) and after that, Amjad made appearances in minor roles with father Jayant in a few films.

• While studying in college, Amjad was the General Secretary of the Student Union.

• In 1972, he married his childhood friend Shehla. A marriage that almost didn’t happen because Shehla’s father, Akhtar-ul-Iman (a noted writer), wanted her to study further.

• In 1975, he was offered the role of Gabbar Singh in the film Sholay. Initially, he was rejected by Javed Akhtar for his dark voice. However, Salim, who was one of its writers, insisted for his role and he finally bagged the role of Gabbar Singh.

• When Amjad Khan was offered the role of Gabbar Singh, he was only 35 years old.

• He signed Sholay the day his first son Shadaab was born i.e., 20 September 1973.

• To get into the role of Gabbar Singh, Amjad read Abhishapth Chambal, a book on dacoits of Chambal written by Tarun Kumar Bhaduri (Jaya Bhaduri‘s father). 

• After the release of Sholay, Amjad Khan shot to stardom.

• His portrayal of Gabbar Singh is considered the first depiction of pure evil in Indian Cinema. 

• His Dialogues and mannerisms have become an integral part of Bollywood lexicon and spawned numerous spoofs and parodies. 

• Sholay went on to become a blockbuster. Although it engulfed a galaxy of superstars including Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Amitabh Bachchan, Amjad Khan stole the show with his eerie and unorthodox dialogue delivery. 

• Amjad Khan was also the Assistant Director of Sholay and handled the Second Unit.

• Even to this day, his mannerisms and dialogue deliveries are fondly remembered by the people.

• After the success of Sholay, Amjad Khan continued to play negative roles in many Hindi Films in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

• He had also dubbed a song for the film Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977). He also played an unconventional role of Avadh’s Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in the film.

• Besides playing negative roles, he also played positive roles in many films such as Yaarana (1981), Laawaris (1981), etc.

• In 1988, he played the role of an underworld don in the Merchant-Ivory English film- The Perfect Murder.

• He also played comical roles in many films such as Love Story, Qurbani, Chameli Ki Shaadi, etc.

• He reprised his role of Gabbar Singh in the 1991 film- Ramgarh Ke Sholay, a parody of the legendary film.

• Amjad Khan had also served as the President of the Actors Guild Association.

• Amjad Khan was a teetotaler. However, his friends such as R. D. Burman often visited his home with their whiskey bottles. 

• Throughout his career, he never lost his temper or raised his voice.

• He was very kind and affectionate towards animals and also had two pet dogs. 

• Amjad Khan also appeared in an advertisement for Britannia Glucose Biscuit. 

• In 1976, while going for the shooting of the film “The Great Gambler,” Amjad had a severe accident on the Mumbai-Goa Highway, which left him with a punctured lung and broken ribs. The injuries led him to slip into a coma. Fortunately, he recovered soon. However, the drugs administered to him during the operation caused him to gain a lot of weight that led to further health complications. 

• Amjad’s increasing weight resulted in his demise on 27 July 1992 after suffering a heart attack at the age of 51.