Ab Dilli Dur Nahin
Before Amjad came to movies he was a theatre actor. His initial role was at the age of 17 in the film Ab Dilli Dur Nahin (1957). He made appearances in small roles with father Jayant in a few movies. He supported K. Asif in Love and God in the late 1960's and had made a concise appearance in the movie. The movie was left incomplete after Asif's death in 1971, and it ended up releasing in 1986. In 1973 he made his first appearance as an adult in Hindustan Ki Kasam.
Sholay
IIn 1975 he was offered the character of dacoit Gabbar Singh for the movie Sholay (accurately meaning flames) by Salim who was one of its writers. For training for the character, Amjad read Abhishapth Chambal, a book on Chambal dacoits written by Taroon Kumar Bhaduri (actress Jaya Bhaduri's father). Amjad shot to stardom with the film.
Gabbar Singh
His depiction of Gabbar Singh is measured by many to be the first depiction of pure evil on the screen in Indian Cinema: a completely evil character that doesn't make reasons for his evil. His mannerisms and dialogues have become a vital part of Bollywood lexicon and spawned several parodies and spoofs. Sholay went on to become a chartbuster.Although it boasted a group cast of superstars counting Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjeev Kumar, he wraps the thunder with his unorthodox and supernatural dialogue delivery that was flawlessly apposite to the total lack of sympathy his character was supposed to express.
Villain Roles
After the victory of Sholay, Khan sustained to play villain roles in many following Hindi films in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s � overriding, in conditions of popularity and stipulate, the former Indian actor, Ajit � portraying more classy and refined criminal bosses, instigator of bank robberies, murders and conspiracies to grab hold of power. He habitually acted as villain differing Amitabh Bachchan as the hero.
Shatranj Ke Khiladi
Khan was also celebrated for playing many eccentric roles. In the decisively acclaimed movie Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977) (based on the novel of the similar title) by Munshi Premchand and directed by Satyajit Ray, Khan played the feeble and deceived monarch Wajid Ali Shah, whose kingdom, Avadh, is being besieged by British colonialists from the British East India Company. It is the only film in which he dubbed a song.
Yaarana
He played many optimistic roles in movies such as Yaarana (1981) and Laawaris (1981) as Amitabh's friend and father correspondingly. In the art movie Utsav (1984), he depicted Vatsayana, the author of the Kama Sutra. In 1988 he emerged in the Merchant-Ivory English film The Perfect Murder as a criminal world don.
Qurbani
He shined at playing humorous characters in movies such as Qurbani (1980), Love Story, and Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986). In 1991, he reprised his position as Gabbar Singh in Ramgarh Ke Sholay, a parody of the renowned film which incorporated look-alikes of Dev Anand and Amitabh Bachchan.
