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Nazir Hussain (15 May 1922 – 16 October 1987) was an Indian actor, director and screenwriter. He was famous as a character actor in Hindi cinema and was a pioneer of Bhojpuri cinema. He acted in almost 500 films, with Dev Anand starring in a large proportion of the films he acted in.

Early life

Nazir Hussain's father Shahabzad Khan was a guard in the Railways and Hussain grew up in Lucknow. He himself worked as a fireman in the railways for few months and soon joined the British army during World War II. He was posted in Malaysia and Singapore where he became a prisoner of war. After being freed, he came under the influence of Subhas Chandra Bose and joined the Indian National Army (INA). He was accorded the status of freedom fighter and was given a free railway pass for life.

Film career

After the INA, unable to find jobs, he began performing in plays. B. N. Sircar of New Theatres, impressed by his performance, called him to Calcutta to join New Theatres. In Calcutta, he met Bimal Roy and became his assistant. He joined with Bimal Roy to make the film Pahela Aadmi, based on the INA experience. He not only acted in the film, but also wrote the story and co-wrote the dialogues for the film. Pehla Aadmi was released in 1950 and launched him to stardom and he became a permanent fixture in Bimal Roy's movies. Later, he worked in many socialist themed films such as Do Bigha Zamin, Devdas and Naya Daur. Munimji, a 1955 Indian Hindi movie was the first film he did with actor Dev Anand. The story idea was by Ranjan, and screenplay and dialogues by Nazir Hussain. The team of Mukherjee, Nazir Hussain, Dev Anand and music director S.D. Burman later collaborated to produce another movie, Paying Guest, in 1957. Main Sunder Hoon is a 1971 Hindi language drama film directed by R. Krishnan and Nazir Hussain.

Bhojpuri cinema

Hussain discussed the possibility of a Bhojpuri cinema industry with Indian president Rajendra Prasad. He is considered as the Pitamah of Bhojpuri cinema. Hussain created Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo (1963), the first Bhojpuri film. Nazir turned producer with Bhojpuri film Hamaar Sansar and also directed it. Hussain was also known for the hit Bhojpuri film Balam Pardesia in the late 1970s.

Filmography

Associations

Nazir worked with several eminent actors and actresses of Hindi cinema.

References

1. "Bhojpuri cinema scripts a success story for five decades". 29 June 2010.
2. ^ Khan, Danish (15 May 2012). "Nazir Hussain: From INA to Bollywood". TwoCircles.
3. Kapoor, Jaskiran (23 December 2009). "Such a long journey". The Indian Express. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
4. Kapoor, Jaskiran (8 May 2009). "golden age of bhojpuri cinema". online india. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
5. Kapoor, Jaskiran (8 May 2009). "The bhojpuri (purvanchal) film industries". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
6. ^ Ghosh, Avijit (5 January 2016). CINEMA BHOJPURI. Penguin UK. ISBN 9788184752564.
7. Nazir Hussain: From INA to Bollywood
8. Bhattacharya, Rinki Roy (5 January 2016). "Bimal Roy: The Man who spoke in pictures".
9. Trends and genres
10. Avijit Ghosh (22 May 2010). Cinema Bhojpuri. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 46–. ISBN 978-81-8475-256-4.
11. "Other India". The New Indian Express. 4 February 2016.
12. "Strong at 50, Bhojpuri cinema celebrates". Indian Express. 14 February 2011.
13. A page from screenindia.com Archived 22 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
14. "First Bhojpuri Film To Be Screened During Bihar Divas". NDTV/Indo-Asian News Service. 17 March 2011. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
15. Kapoor, Jaskiran (23 December 2009). "Such a long journey". The Indian Express. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
16. Jha, Giridhar (7 February 2011). "Bhojpuri films must return to their roots". Mail Today. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
17. Google Books preview from 'Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema', Gulzar, Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee, Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema, ISBN 81-7991-066-0

External links

• Nazir Hussain at IMDb

• Male actors in Bhojpuri cinema
• Film producers from Uttar Pradesh
• Hindi-language film directors
• Filmfare Awards winners
• 1922 births
• 1987 deaths
• Male actors in Hindi cinema
• 20th-century Indian people
• Male actors from Uttar Pradesh
• People from Ghazipur
• Indian male film actors