Bharat Bhushan | |
---|---|
Born |
Meerut, United Provinces, British India |
14 June 1920
Died | 27 January 1992 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
(aged 71)
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1941–1992 |
Known for | Baiju Bawra |
Home town | Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India |
Awards | Filmfare Best Actor Award, 1954 |
Bharat Bhushan Bhalla (14 June 1920 – 27 January 1992) was an Indian actor in Hindi language films, scriptwriter and producer, who is best remembered for playing Baiju Bawra in the 1952 film of the same name. He was born in Meerut, and brought up in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.
Bharat Bhushan was born on 14 June 1920 in to a Baniya family at Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
His father, Raibahadur Motilal, was the government pleader of Meerut. His mother died when he was two years old. His elder brother was film producer R. Chandra, who owned the Ideal Studio at Lucknow. The brothers left for Aligarh to stay with their grandfather after their mother's death. He did his studies and took a graduate degree from Aligarh. After this he took to acting against his father's wishes. He first went to Calcutta to join cinema and later established himself in Bombay.
He married into a prominent family in Meerut, Zamindar Raibahadur Budha Prakash's daughter Sharadha. They had two daughters, Anuradha and Aparijitha. Anuradha had polio-associated complications. Sharadha died of labour complications after delivering their second child in the early 1960s, soon after the film Barsaat Ki Raat. In 1967, he married actress Ratna, his co-star in the movie Barsaat Ki Raat.
Bharat Bhushan owned bungalows in Bandra, Bombay and other areas. He was an avid reader and boasted of his collection of books, which he often had to sell off like his cars and bungalows in the bad times. He died when he managed to finally get rid of his financial crisis, on January 27, 1992.
He made his debut with the Kidar Sharma hit Chitralekha (1941). However, he struggled for over a decade to make a mark in Hindi movies till Baiju Bawra (1952), which gave him instant stardom and legendary status along with Mohammad Rafi, Meena Kumari and Naushad Ali. Though a very talented actor and a prominent star of the 1950s and 1960s in Hindi language films, he often took on roles of tragic musicians in the movies. Films in which he starred as lead actor include Basant Bahar.