Be it Jai-Viru’s pair or Gabbar Singh or Thakur or Basanti, every character of the 1975 film ‘Sholay’ was such that it has not been forgotten even today. In this film, a character was also of Rahim Chacha, whose dialogue ‘Why is so silent brother’ was quite famous. This character was given a legend actor A.K. Hangal played. On the occasion of his death anniversary, we will introduce you to all these achievements of veteran actor.

First step in the cinematic world at the age of 52
The full name of the veteran actor was Avatar Kishan Hangal, a veteran artist of Indian cinema who made it to the hearts of millions of spectators with his simplicity, sensitive acting and deep voice.

Born on 1 February 1914 in Sialkot, Hangal was not only a great actor, but also a freedom fighter and theater artist. In fact, Avatar Kishan was a freedom fighter before coming to Hangal films and in the early days he used to do a tailor work but was also active in India’s freedom struggle between 1929 and 1947. He had to remain imprisoned in Karachi jail for three years.

The book ‘Life and Times of A.K. Hangal also mentions untouched aspects of his life, according to this, his father’s close friend advised him to become a tailor. After this, Hangal also learned this art from a skilled tailor of England.

At the age of 52, he started his film career with the film ‘Third Kasam’ in which he played the role of Raj Kapoor’s elder brother and after that he worked in more than 250 films. In ‘Sholay’, dialogues like his character of ‘Rahim Chacha’ and ‘so much silence why Bhai’ gave him a distinct identity among cine lovers.

Hangal’s best movies
He acted in about 250 Hindi films from 1966 to 2005, including films like ‘Sholay’ (1975), ‘Namak Haram’, ‘Anthi’, ‘Bachchi’, ‘Lagaan’ (2001) and ‘Prank’ (2002). He acted in 16 films with Rajesh Khanna, including ‘Aap Ki Kasam’, ‘Amar Deep’, ‘Kudrat’ and ‘Sautela Bhai’.

His specialty was that he was seen in the role of most positive characters such as father, uncle, or elderly, but his performance was also memorable in some negative characters like ‘Prem Bandhan’ and ‘Manzil’. Shambhu Kaka in ‘Lagaan’ in 2001 and his last film ‘Krishna Aur Kansa’ was highly praised for Ugrasen’s voice.

Did not leave his characters until the last power
Apart from films, Hangal also worked on Doordarshan. His last TV appearance was in 2012 as a cameo in ‘Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon’, a tribute to the completion of 100 years of Indian cinema. Hangal did not give up cinema despite increasing age and continued to rule the hearts of people with his performance till the end. The then President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam gave A.K. Hangal was awarded the 2006 Padma Bhushan Award.

He said goodbye to this world on 26 August 2012, but he is still alive in people’s minds due to his simplicity, patriotism, and dedication to acting. Due to his qualities, he also got a special place in Hindi cinema.