Balraj Sahni

Balraj Sahni ( born May 1, 1913 in Rawalpindi, † 13 April 1973 in Bombay ) was an Indian film actor and author.

Life

Sahni studied literature in Lahore and then worked as a writer. By the way he dealt with modern realistic theater. In his first marriage he was married to stage actress Damayanti. He worked as a journalist, publicist, broadcaster and lecturer in Hindi and English.

His first major role in the film Khwaja Ahmad Abbas in 1946 ' Dharti Ke Lal. From 1947 he was based in Bombay. Balraj Sahnis histrionic fame came with his role as Rikshafahrer in the neo-realist film Do Bigha Zamin (1953, Filmfare Award / Best Picture ) by Bimal Roy. He plays the lead role of a farmer who tries to earn in Kolkata as Rikshafahrer money to buy his land and thus can prevent the construction of a factory in his village, with humanity and great emotional depth. Balraj Sahni played frequently formally challenging roles, as a madman in Garam Coat ( 1955) and a radical poet in Sone Ki Chidiya (1958). He has performed with the major female stars of the Indian film of the 1950s ( Nargis, Meena Kumari, Nutan and Vyjayantimala ). In the 1960s, he became particularly prominent character roles in Yash Chopra's Waqt so (1965).

Sahni has directed Lal Batti (1957) and wrote the script for Guru Dutt's Baazi (1951, with Dev Anand in the lead role ). From the 1960s he led the left political theater group " Juhu " and published novels. In 1971, his autobiography. His last film Garam Hawa (1973 ) shows him in a great role as an aging Muslim in Agra at the time of partition of India, which has to decide to leave the country to Pakistan or counterclockwise watch as part of a minority in Hindu India an uncertain future.

Balraj Sahni was one of the intellectuals of the Indian film and was left politically. He was a participant of cultural delegations to the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.

His younger brother was the Hindi writer Bhisham Sahni ( 1915-2003 ).