The country had just become independent and such an actor was born in Hindi cinema, who could not only play the pain and problems of the common man on screen but also make people cry with his dialogues. We are talking about Balraj Sahni, who on one hand made films on the social hierarchy and on the other hand emerged as a professional actor. The actor’s birth anniversary is on 1st May.

For Balraj Sahni, morality and social concerns were an important part of his public life not only in films but also in real life. On screen, he did social films like ‘Dharti Ke Lal’, ‘Do Bigha Zameen’, ‘Kabuliwala’ and ‘Garm Hawa’ but on the other hand he also did commercial films like ‘Anuradha’, ‘Waqt’, ‘Sangharsh’ and ‘Ek Phool Do Mali’.

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In ‘Do Bigha Zameen’, Balraj played the character of a person named Shambhu Mahato, who is a poor rickshaw puller. During the casting of the film, director Bimal Roy was looking for a good actor for this role, who could portray the plight and helplessness of a poor person on screen. First the roles were offered to Ashok Kumar, Trilok Kapoor and Nazir Hussain but then Bimal Roy saw the role played by him in Balraj Sahni’s film ‘Hum Log’ and he was impressed by him to a great extent. He liked the character so much that he sent an invitation to the actor to meet him. Then Balraj Sahni arrived to meet the director in black suit-boots.

Seeing Balraj in a suit, the director was shocked because he was looking very handsome and it did not seem that he could play the role of a poor rickshaw puller. He told the actor that you do not fit in the character for which you have been selected. The actor asked the director to watch the film ‘Dharti Ke Lal’, in which he played the role of an unhappy and helpless elder son named ‘Niranjan’. Then what, ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ fell into the actor’s lap as soon as he saw the film.

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When we talk about comedians in the history of Hindi cinema, Rajendra Nath’s name will definitely feature prominently. With his unique comic timing, witty dialogue delivery and memorable characters, he created a special place in the hearts of the audience in the 1960s and 70s. This was the golden era when veteran comedians like Johnny Walker and Mehmood were already dominant in Hindi films, but Rajendra Nath proved with his different style of comedy that one can be recognized even among the stars.

Dev Anand and Asha Parekh were in lead roles in the 1961 film ‘Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai’. The supporting actor in this film was Rajendra Nath, whose character’s name was Popatlal. His great chemistry with Dev Anand, comic timing and that iconic look of Popatlal became such a hit that ‘Popatlal’ became his second name.

This film took him to every home and brought him success in many subsequent films. Rajendra Nath worked in more than 200 Hindi and Punjabi films. His comedy still makes audiences laugh when they watch old films, and his contribution to the comedy history of Hindi cinema is immortal.

In the 60s and 70s, Rajendra Nath had established himself as a comedian in Hindi cinema. He was doing films with all the big actors of that era, but this artist also had to struggle to establish himself in Hindi cinema. In the initial phase of his career, he worked in Prithvi Theatre. Whatever small roles he got, he played them.

He has taught today’s actors to concentrate on their performance without worrying about small or big roles, if the performance is good then there will be applause in the theatres. He was a comic actor who could dominate even the lead roles of films.

Rajendra Nath was born on June 8, 1931 in Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh. He died of a heart attack on 13 February 2008. Rajendra Nath’s comedy still brings a smile while watching old films. The character of ‘Popatlal’ remained the brightest chapter of his career, which will always remain immortal in the comedy history of Hindi cinema.

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