Bharat Bhushan

Bharat Bhushan was born on 14 June 1920 in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. His father was a government pleader and his mother died when he was two years old. He had one older brother, Rameshchandra Gupta, who was a film producer. He graduated from Dharam Samaj College, Aligarh and took to acting against his father's wishes. He made his debut with the film Chitralekha (1941) directed by Kidar Sharma. He struggled for over a decade to make a mark in Hindi films until he got his breakthrough role as Baiju Bawra, a legendary musician, in the 1952 film of the same name. The film was a huge success and won him the Filmfare Best Actor Award. He also became famous for his collaboration with singer Mohammad Rafi, composer Naushad Ali and actress Meena Kumari. He acted in several hit films such as Mirza Ghalib (1954), Basant Bahar (1956), Anarkali (1953), Barsaat Ki Raat (1960), Chaitali (1975) and many more. He also wrote scripts and produced films such as Sangeet Samrat Tansen (1962), Dooj Ka Chand (1964) and Barsaat Ki Raat (1960). He married Sarla, the daughter of a zamindar, and had two daughters, Anuradha and Aparajita, who were both differently abled. His wife died in the early 1960s due to labour complications. In 1967, he married Ratna, an actress who played supporting roles in many films. He owned a bungalow in Bandra, Mumbai, which he sold to Rajendra Kumar, who later sold it to Rajesh Khanna. He faced financial difficulties in his later years as most of his films flopped. He died on 27 January 1992 due to respiratory failure. He was 71 years old. He is remembered as one of the finest actors of Hindi cinema and a pioneer of musical films.