According to Ajit's son Shehzad when Ajit first arrived in Mumbai from Hyderabad, he had so little money that he lived in cement pipes on Mohammad Ali Road. Local gangsters controlled these makeshift shelters and demanded protection money, but Ajit refused to pay, fought back, and soon became so respected that no one dared trouble him. In fact, people began offering him free tea, snacks, and meals out of respect. Initially in his career, he struggled to meet people and be accepted in any film project, and in order to feed himself, he worked as an "extra" in several films. Finally, he managed to land a leading role, and in the first couple of films, he is credited by his real name, Hamid Khan. He did not meet with much success, and on the advice of
Nana Bhai Bhat, he took the name "Ajit" meaning "indomitable" as his screen-name, but his luck did not greatly improve. Although he did several films as a protagonist and became known to the public, and although his distinctive baritone voice and impressive personality brought him a fan following, his luck at the box office was not good at all. Film director
K. Amarnath, who directed him in
Beqasoor, suggested that the actor change his long name of Hamid Ali Khan to something shorter, and Hamid zeroed in on "Ajit".
Beqasoor (1950), in which he acted with
Madhubala, was one of the biggest hits of 1950. Ajit's films as hero include (1953),
Bada Bhai,
Milan,
Baradari (1955) and
Dholak (1951) and in all of them, he did credible work as actor. In (1953), the song
"Dekh tere sansar ki haalat kya ho gayi Bhagwan" is picturised on him. He moved soon afterwards to second-lead roles, which he accepted because he had no other source of income. These movies include and
Mughal-e-Azam. In the mid-seventies, he had acted in over 57 films, mostly as a villain. His dialogue delivery remains popular even to this date.
Acting style Ajit almost always portrayed the sophisticated, educated, well groomed evil mastermind, albeit heartless villain. Ajit was presented in striking western attire, the "bold" checked suits, matching overcoats, white leather shoes, wide sunglasses, jewellery accessories. Given his stature as a senior artist, Ajit was usually the gang leader to second tier villains (such as
Jeevan,
Prem Chopra,
Ranjeet,
Kader Khan and
Sujit Kumar). He was rarely portrayed (in movie roles) doing any "dirty work" himself, rather relying on his army of henchmen for the task, with zero tolerance for any failures. He always had a savvy female accomplice, usually named "Mona." Acting in over 200 films, he specialized in playing suave villains with memorable catchphrases delivered in now iconic Ajit-style nasal drawls such as "Mona, darling". Ajit also brought to fame the
smuggler as the villain. In his movies, he is generally seen smuggling
gold biscuits in or out of the country. It has also been noted that most of his gang members had Christian names like Robert, Michael and Peter. He pronounced "Robert" as "Rabbert." This also has been used for comic purposes in
parodies. It was the menacing voice he was most famous for. He is still remembered for bringing the most famous villains in the history of Indian cinema to life. His contemporaries include veteran actors like
Amrish Puri,
Amjad Khan,
Pran and
Prem Chopra. Some of his popularity in the present time is due to the innumerable jokes and parodies made on his famous lines by comedians. ==Personal life==