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Puneet Issar
Issar in 2014
Born	(1959-11-06) 6 November 1959 (age 65)
Occupations	Actor writer producer director dialect coach
Years active	1983–present
Known for	Coolie Mahabharat Border Garv The Kashmir Files
Spouse	Deepali Issar
Children	2
Father	Sudesh Issar
Relatives	Satyajeet Puri (brother-in-law)

Puneet Issar (born 6 November 1959) is an Indian actor, writer, director, producer and dialect coach best known for his works in Hindi films, Bengali films, Telugu films, Kannada Films, Malayalam Films and television shows. Issar started his acting career as a villain in Manmohan Desai's 1983 film Coolie, but gained recognition with the portrayal of Duryodhana in B. R. Chopra's television series Mahabharat (1988–1990).

Following Mahabharat, Issar acted in notable films including Chandra Mukhi (1993), Prem Shakti (1994), Ram Jaane (1995), Border (1997), Refugee (2000), Krrish (2006), Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), Ready (2011), Son of Sardaar (2012) and The Kashmir Files (2022). His first directorial was Salman Khan starrer cop film Garv (2004), for which he co-wrote the screenplay with wife Deepali.

Besides Mahabharat, Issar also went on to be part of television shows like Param Vir Chakra (1987), Bharat Ek Khoj (1988), Junoon (1993-1998), Noorjahan (1999-2000), Mahabharat (2013), Parchhayee: Ghost Stories by Ruskin Bond (2019) and Choti Sarrdaarni (2021). He was a contestant in the reality television show Bigg Boss 8 (2014–2015), hosted by Salman Khan. Formerly, he worked as dialect coach at various acting institutions, and his expertise included speech, diction and physical gestures.

Personal life

Puneet is the son of film director Sudesh Issar.

He belongs to a Punjabi Hindu family which migrated from Pakistan following the 1947 partition.

He is married to Deepali, the daughter of actor Daljeet Puri and sister of actor Satyajeet Puri. She has written the films Garv: Pride and Honour (2004) and I Am Singh (2011) - both directed by Puneet. The couple has two children, daughter Nivriti Issar and son Siddhant Issar. Siddhant is also an actor.

Issar is a fitness and gym enthusiast. He also made some positive headlines for fitness at the age of 60.

Career

Issar has starred as a villain in over 150 films, such as Zakhmi Aurat, Kal Ki Aawaz, Palay Khan, Teja, Prem Shakti and opposite stars like Mohanlal, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. He also played a villain in the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Ram Jaane. He appeared in the hit war film Border. He played the role of Parashurama in 2013 Mahabharata and Duryodhana in the epic TV series Mahabharat (1988–1990) which brought him mainstream popularity.

He played the Indian Superman, a Bollywood version of the Hollywood films. He played the second lead in the cult Indian horror film Purana Mandir in 1983. Later he did many other horror movies such as Tehkhana in the 1980s.

He also starred in movies such as Krrish, Partner, Aryan, Bachna Ae Haseeno and many more in the 2000s.

In 1982, he was involved in an on-shoot incident with Amitabh Bachchan during the shoot of Coolie. He accidentally injured Amitabh, nearly fatally, and suffered the industry's backlash due to it. He later admitted that he had to face a lot of problems in getting roles in movies and he also lost 7-8 films due to the notoriety of the incident.

He has also directed TV serials such as Hindustani and Jai Mata Ki starring Hema Malini. He has starred in over 12 TV serials such as Junoon, Sahil, Noor Jahan, Vikram Aur Betaal and many more. He has appeared in over 1800 episodes on Indian television. He played the role of King Bimbisara in the feature film Gautama Buddha – The Life and Times of Gautama Buddha. He also starred in Left Right Left of the Indian Channel Sab TV. He has also worked in several Punjabi films such as Rab Ne Banayian Jodiyan and in a few Telugu films. He has also given a brilliant display of his acting skills in the mythological film Suryaputra Shanidev, which was released in 1997.

In 2004, Issar directed the film Garv: Pride and Honour starring Salman Khan and Shilpa Shetty in lead roles. The opening collections of the film were good, and overall it was declared "Above Average" at the box office. His latest directorial venture I Am Singh, the story of which is also written by him, released in December 2011.

In the Indian TV reality show Bigg Boss season 8, in 2014/2015, Issar was one of the 7 finalists. He was evicted from the show on 3 January 2015. Issar lasted in the house for 105 days. At 56, he was the oldest contestant to do so and lasted the entire season in the house. He played the role of "Daar ji" in Choti Sarrdaarni.

In 2022, Issar played DGP Hari Narain in The Kashmir Files, a film based on the Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.

Filmography

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Films

Television

Other credits

References

1. ^ "It feels sad to see Sanatan Dharma being made fun of". Life And More. 29 November 2020.
2. ^ Bhandari, Kabir Singh (6 November 2019). "Puneet Issar on playing Duryodhana again and his passion for gyming at 60". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
3. ^ Murthy, Neeraja (17 December 2019). "Puneet Issar is still mighty 'Duryodhan' for viewers". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
4. "Puneet Issar on playing the ANTI-HERO". Hindustan Times. 28 September 2016. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
5. Chakraborty, Juhi (6 February 2021). "All the actors from Mahabharat are stuck in their image from 30 years ago, but I kept breaking my image says Puneet Issar". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
6. ^ "Puneet Issar to enter Choti Sarrdaarni, says the role is tailor made for me". India Today. 5 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
7. "Indore: Actor Punit Issar main draw at Rotary function". The Free Press Journal. 27 March 2022. He said his father was from Pakistan and during partition his father was only 16-year-old and his uncle was just 6-months old.
8. Batra, Ankur (28 June 2020). "Puneet Issar feels that isolation period was more interesting than his Bigg Boss stay". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
9. "Puneet Issar's daughter Nivriti claims tweet about Karishma Tanna was from a fake account". The Indian Express. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
10. "ये है महाभारत के दुर्योधन का बेटा, पुनीत इस्सर की तरह सिद्धांत इस्सर भी निभा चुके दुर्योधन का आइकॉनिक रोल". Times Now (in Hindi). 26 August 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
11. "Time to workout - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. 17 August 2012. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
12. "rediff.com, Movies: A very human story". M.rediff.com. 30 June 2000. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
13. "I am praying for him again". The Times of India. 2 December 2005. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
14. ^ "The producers thought Garv would never release". Rediff.com. 1 July 2004. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
15. "Sands Of Time - Part 4 | Bollywood's Affair With Superman: When Duryodhan Became Clark Kent". Outlook. 12 January 2022. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
16. Bhandari, Kabir Singh (30 October 2020). "Halloween Special: Puneet Issar on his horror movie experience with Purana Mandir". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
17. "90 दशक की रामसे ब्रदर्स की वो हॉरर फिल्में, जिन्होंने बचपन में ख़ूब डराया | Ramsay Brothers Horror Movies". Patrika News (in Hindi). 4 April 2022. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
18. "कुली हादसे के बाद ऐसे थी Amitabh Bachchan-Puneet Issar की पहली मुलाकात, पत्नी ने भी दिया था बिग बी को खून". Times Now (in Hindi). 12 September 2021. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
19. "Box Office 2004". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
20. Webster, Andy (2 December 2011). "A Family's Irreparable Loss for the Crime of Being Sikh". New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
21. "'I Am Singh' is about Sikhs targeted post 9/11: Puneet Issar". DNA India. PTI. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
22. "Puneet Issar to enter Choti Sarrdaarni". Tribune. 7 June 2021. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
23. Cyril, Grace (5 April 2022). "Twinkle Khanna mocks The Kashmir Files craze, says 'going to make Nail Files about disastrous manicure'". India Today. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
24. "Chandrahas review". IndiaGlitz.com. 3 July 2007. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
25. "Jai Ma Hema ki". India Today. New Delhi: Living Media. 16 August 1999. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.

External links

• Puneet Issar at IMDb
• Puneet Issar on Bollywood Hungama
• Puneet Issar on Twitter

• 1959 births
• Living people
• Male actors in Hindi cinema
• Indian male television actors
• Film directors from Mumbai
• Male actors in Telugu cinema
• Indian male film actors
• Male actors in Malayalam cinema
• Male actors in Kannada cinema
• Male actors in Bengali cinema
• Male actors in Punjabi cinema
• 20th-century Indian male actors
• 21st-century Indian male actors
• Male actors from Mumbai
• 21st-century Indian people
• Film producers from Mumbai
• Male actors in Hindi television
• Male actors in Telugu television
• Bigg Boss (Hindi TV series) contestants
• Punjabi Hindus