Bollywood Throwback: Did You Know Balraj Sahni Was Jailed For His Revolutionary Ideas?

Balraj Sahni was one of the most impactful actors of the ’50s and ’60s. He is still an inspiration for many. He was also tagged as one of the most educated actors of that time. He died on 13th April, 1973 at the age of 69. Balraj Sahni was born on 1st May, 1913 in Pakistan. He completed his master’s degree from Lahore University in English literature. Sahni then decided to move to Rawalpindi to look after his family business.

Balraj Sahni has also worked with Mahatma Gandhi in 1938. He then went to London to work with BBC Hindi. Balraj Sahni wanted to pursue his childhood passion so he joined the Indian progressive theatre association. Sahni made his acting debut in 1946 in a serial called Insaaf. The actor also got a chance to act in Khwaja Ahmed Abbas’s film Dharti Ke Laal. The actor gained immense recognition for films like Kabuli Wala, Do Bheega Zameen, Waqt, Choti Behen, and Garam Hawa.

Sahni was not only known for his acting skills, he was also quite vocal about his opinion regarding the issues happening around him. He got into trouble many times and he was even arrested due to his association with the group ITA for his revolutionary and communist views. The actor was shooting for a film called Hulchul when he was arrested and on the special request of the producer of the film he was allowed to shoot in the day and return to jail in the evening.

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The actor was also a wonderful writer. He wrote several writing pieces during his college days and contributed to writing for Hindi magazine Hans with his short stories. He also worked on the script of Guru Dutt’s film Baazi. In 1965, we got to see different sides of Balraj Sahni in the film Waqt. The actor portrayed a role where he immortalized the character of Lala Jeevan Rai.

The song Ae Meri Zohrabeen from Sahni’s movie is still an evergreen melody. The director Ms. Sathyu’s film Garam Hawa in 1973 was Balraj Sahni’s last film. His son Parikshit Sahni also made a good name in Bollywood later on and worked in films like the Munnabhai series and other Rajkumar Hirani’s films. He also wrote a book on his father called.” The Non-Conformist-the memories of my father Balraj Sahni”, in which he described various details of his father’s life.

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