REDISCOVERY: Balraj Sahni

THE ACTIVIST ACTOR

Balraj Sahni  was unarguably one of the best actors Indian cinema ever produced.  If he hasn’t got his rightful place in the pantheon of stars, it was because he was always an actor and a gentleman, and, unfortunately passed away before the celebrity-worshipping culture came into being. 

After a stint at teaching and radio broadcasting, Sahni, started his acting career with the Indian People’s Theatre Association (in plays like The Inspector General and Doll’s House) and like the rest of his IPTA comrades was politically conscious and left-leaning (he was also arrested in the communist witchhunt of the early fifties).

His debut film in a lead role, Dharti Ke Laal (which co-starred his wife Damyanti) by K A Abbas, was about the Bengal famine and though it got much appreciation for its portrayal of the bitter truth, it did not get Sahni—who played a starving peasant-- immediate attention. Apparently, he stayed hungry for several days to get that look of deprivation on his face. A little later films like Hum Log, Do Bigha Zameen and Kabuliwala got the handsome actor the much-deserved acclaim.

In Do Bigha Zameen, Bimal Roy’s classic about rural poverty and dispossession, Sahni played the role of a rickshaw puller, and so committed he was to his work, that he actually pulled a rickshaw on the streets of Calcutta for several days in order to the character full justice. The last scene in which his face expresses the despair and helplessness of poor farmer who has lost his land still moves audiences to tears. 

For his role of the Pathan in Kabuliwala, he stayed with some Afghans in Mumbai to get their speech patterns and mannerisms right. At a time when method acting was not in vogue,  this was a measure of Sahni’s dedication to his craft. Hindi cinema could hardly offer him enough roles that were worthy of his prodigious talent. But he was brilliant in films like Garam Coat, Seema, Anuradha,  Kathputli, Sone Ki Chidiya.

Even when he did character roles in films like Waqt (his Aye meri Zohrajabeen number is unforgettable),  Duniya, Humraaz,  Ek Phool Do Mali, Mere Humsafar, Talash, Jawani Deewani, he brought such dignity and compassion to the men he played, that he shone effortlessly in a crowd of bigger stars. Some of his best work -- Haqeeqat, Hanste Zakhm, Hindustan Ki Kasam --was with IPTA colleague Chetan Anand who was instrumental in getting him into films.

The pinnacle of his career, however, came with MS Sathyu’s masterpiece Garm Hawa in which he played the head of a Muslim family, that is torn apart by the Partition of India.  In spite of the communal riots, the suicide of his daughter and the exodus of Muslims to Pakistan, he makes the decision to stay on in India.

His son, actor Parikshit Sahni –with whom he did the poignant Pavitra Papi—had to live under his father’s tremendous shadow and never quite managed to make it big in films.

In spite of so many magnificent performances,  which inspired the generation of actors (like Sanjeev Kumar and Naseeruddin Shah) after him, Balraj Sahni never won an major awards. 

But he was not bitter or angry. When in died in 1973, he is supposed to have said to his doctor, “I have had a wonderful life and also received an abundance of love. I have no regrets, I thank my countrymen and salute them.”

Comments

[Leena]

Yes. Balraj Sahni was a very talented actor. He looked and was a gentleman to the core. He was loved and admired by our generation............does not matter if he did not receive many awards or the recognition he deserved. We know that awards are many times 'managed' but love and respect can not be.
The article is well written. Keep it up.

[suniti]

Thanks for writing this one. I loved Balraj in movies like Seema, Sone ki chidiya and anuradha.
I haven't yet explored this site but it will be nice to see a few clips of their major performances. The man had a grace which was truly amazing. Looking forward to many such write ups.