Yakub Khan Mehboob Khan

Yakub Khan Mehboob Khan, known as Yakub, was an Indian Hindi film actor born into a Pathan family in 1904 in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. He died in 1958 after a career spanning thirty years in the film industry. He is best known for his comedic villainous roles. He commenced his career as an extra but soon did roles as a hero and later as a villain. He became one of the most renowned screen villains, while achieving equal success in comedy and character roles. Yakub appeared in over 300 films.

Yakub ran away from home at an early age doing odd jobs like motor mechanics and waiting tables before joining the ship ‘S. S. Madura’ as a kitchen worker. He left the ship after travelling to various places like London, Brussels and Paris then returned to Calcutta where he worked as a tourist guide among other jobs. He finally came to Bombay now Mumbai, around 1924 and joined the Sharda Film Company.