1. Balraj Sahni was the brother of Bhisham Sahni, noted Hindi writer, playwright, and actor.
21 Facts About Balraj Sahni
2.
Balraj Sahni's father belonged to the Arya Samaj organization, a Hindu reformist movement, and stressed the importance of social reforms as well the independence movement admiring individuals such as Gandhi and Tagore, which would instill an early idealism in the mind of Sahni.
3.
Balraj Sahni studied at Government College and Gordon College.
4.
Balraj Sahni collaborated with Mahatma Gandhi for a year in 1938.
5.
Balraj Sahni returned to India in 1943, and his wife died in 1947 at age 26.
6.
Balraj Sahni was always interested in acting, and started his acting career with the plays of the Indian People's Theatre Association.
7.
Balraj Sahni started his film career in Bombay with the film Insaaf, followed by directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas in 1946, Damayanti's first film, Door Chalein in 1946, and other films.
8.
Balraj Sahni followed it up with an encore in the 1961 classic Kabuliwala penned by Tagore.
9.
Balraj Sahni acted opposite heroines such as Padmini, Nutan, Meena Kumari, Vyjayanthimala and Nargis in films such as Bindya, Seema, Sone Ki Chidiya, Sutta Bazaar, Bhabhi Ki Chudiyaan, Kathputli, Lajwanti and Ghar Sansaar.
10.
Balraj Sahni starred in the classic Punjabi film Nanak Dukhiya Sub Sansar as well as the critically acclaimed Satluj De Kande.
11.
Balraj Sahni was a gifted writer; his early writings were in English, though later in life he switched to Punjabi, and became a writer of repute in Punjabi literature.
12.
Balraj Sahni contributed many poems and short stories in magazines and penned his autobiography; Meri Filmi Aatmakatha.
13.
Balraj Sahni was elected as the first president of All India Youth Federation, the youth wing of Communist Party of India.
15.
Balraj Sahni was a recipient of the Padma Shri Award.
16.
Balraj Sahni wrote in Punjabi and contributed to the Punjabi magazine Preetlari.
17.
Balraj Sahni's acting in Do Bigha Zameen and Garam Hawa were the highlights of his career.
18.
Balraj Sahni believed in what is known as neo-realistic cinema.
19.
Balraj's brother Bhisham Sahni was a well-known writer who wrote the novel Tamas.
20.
Balraj Sahni died on 13 April 1973 of a massive cardiac arrest, at age 59.
21.
Punjabi Kala Kender, founded in 1973 at Bombay by Balraj Sahni, gives away the annual Balraj Sahni Award, given by the All India Artists Association.