Paidipati Jairaj | |
|---|---|
 Jairaj in the filmSwami,c. 1941 | |
| Born | (1909-09-28)28 September 1909 |
| Died | 11 August 2000(2000-08-11) (aged 90) Mumbai,Maharashtra, India |
| Alma mater | Nizam College |
| Years active | 1929–1995 |
| Spouse | |
| Awards | Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1980) |
Paidipati Jairaj (28 September 1909 – 11 August 2000) was an Indian actor, director and producer known for his works majorly inHindi; fewMarathi,Gujarati,Telugu language films, andTelugu theatre.[2][3] During the talkie period, from 1931 onwards, he started withShikari in Urdu and English languages. Subsequently, he became one of the leading actors for about two decades, along withV. Shantaram,Ashok Kumar,Prithviraj Kapoor,Motilal etc. He starred in about 170 feature films in a variety of roles. He directed a few films such asMohar,Mala (1943),Pratima,Rajghar andSaagar (1951), which he produced. In 1980, he was awarded with theDadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award for films in India, for his contributions to Indian cinema.[3][4]
Paidipati Jairaj was born inSircilla ofHyderabad State (present-dayTelangana) on 28 September 1909. He had two brothers - Paidipati Sundararaja, Paidipati Deendayal (Artist) and Paidipati Jairaj was the youngest.[3]
Jairaj developed an interest in theatre and films during his graduate studies atNizam College, and left forBombay in 1929.[5] He made his acting debut in 1929 with the silent filmStar Kling Youth, and subsequently he acted in about eleven silent films includingTriangle of Love,Mathru Bhoomi,All for Lover,Mahasagar Mothi,Flight into Death,My Hero etc.[2][3]
He played the characters of Amar Singh Rathore [1957], Prithviraj Chauhan [1959], and Maharana Pratap [1960] among notable films. He also essayed the roles of Shah Jahan [1947], Tipu Sultan [1959] and Haider Ali [1962]. His other portrayals have been in films such asSassi Punnu [1947],Hatimtai [1956],Chandrashekar Azad [1963] andDurga Das [1964] among others. Jairaj did six films with Suraiya in the 1940s and 1950s, five of them, viz.Humaari Baat (1943),Singaar (1949),Amar Kahani (1949),Rajput (1951) andResham (1952) as her hero, and one of them,Lal Kunwar (1952), as second lead. In 1952, he produced and directed his own filmSagar, which was not well received by the audiences, but he was still committed to cinema.[6]
He married aPunjabi woman, Savitri, from Delhi. It was an arranged marriage. Prithviraj Kapoor's father had chosen the bride for him.[7] He had two sons and three daughters. His wife died a year before him of cancer. His daughter Geeta Gupta looked after him in his last years.Rajan Shahi, TV producer-director, is his daughter's son (maternal grandson), the sole person of Jairaj's extended family in Bollywood.[2][8][9] Jairaj died inMumbai on 11 August 2000.[2][3][5]
A one-hour documentary, Life journey of Jairaj, was made by theGovernment of Telangana in 2018 to celebrate his life.[10]
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Pratima | |
| 1951 | Saagar | |
| 1959 | Mohar |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
