Prem Nath

Prem Nath
File:PremNath.jpg
Born	Premnath Malhotra (1926-11-21)21 November 1926 Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province, British India
Died	Mumbai, India
Occupation	Actor, Director
Years active	1947–1985
Spouse(s)	Bina Rai
Children	Prem Krishen Kailash Nath (Monty)
Relatives	Rajendra Nath (Brother) Narendra Nath (Brother) Krishna Kapoor (Sister) Uma Chopra (Sister) Raj Kapoor (Brother-in-law) Prem Chopra (Brother-in-law)

Premnath Malhotra (21 November 1926 – 3 November 1992) was an Indian actor.

Personal life

He was born in Karimpura locality near Ghanta Ghar in Peshawar. His family moved to Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh after partition and he moved to Mumbai where he was discovered as an actor.

He married actress Bina Rai. Their children are actor Prem Krishen and Kailash Nath (Monty). They are also the grandparents of actress Akanksha Malhotra and director Siddharth Malhotra who are Prem Krishen's children. Adiraj Malhotra and Arjun Malhotra are the sons of Kailash Nath. His sister Krishna married Raj Kapoor while his other sister Uma was married to veteran Bollywood actor Prem Chopra. His brothers Rajendra Nath and Narendra Nath were also actors who mostly appeared in comic and supporting roles. He was also a close friend of the actress Asha Parekh. He died of a heart attack in 1992 at the age of 65,just 18 days before his 66th birthday.

Career

File:Abhishek with actors Prem Chopra and Premnath - 1974.JPG

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Premnath made his film debut in Ajit (1948), opposite Monica Desai, and was one of the first colour films. He got major roles in Raj Kapoor's first directorial film Aag and Barsaat (1949) which was his first major success. Premnath went on to appear in many films for the next three decades, some of which were the biggest blockbusters in Indian film history. The films in which he played the leading role failed to do well but the films in which he played the central villain role or supporting role were some of the biggest blockbusters in Indian film history. Some his most notable films were Aan (1952), Teesri Manzil (1966), Johny Mera Naam (1970), Tere Mere Sapne (1971), Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974), Dharmatma (1975), Kalicharan (1976) and Desh Premee (1982). He also starred in the religious Punjabi film Sat Sri Akal (1977).

He fell in love with actress Bina Rai during the filming of Aurat. They married and formed a production company together called P.N. films. They pinned high hopes for their films, which didn't become hits, such as Shagufa, Prisoner of Golconda, Samunder and Watan. Thus, the Premnath - Bina Rai pair never clicked on the screen.

He earned Filmfare nominations as Best Supporting Actor for: Shor (1972), Bobby (1973), Amir Garib (1974), and Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974).

Apart from Bollywood films, he also appeared in an episode of the American television series Maya in 1967 and a 1969 American film titled Kenner opposite former American football player turned actor Jim Brown. He starred in a number of Punjabi films such as Sat Sri Akal (1977). He also directed a film Samundar (1957) for his home production house P. N. films, which was its only production. His last film appearance was in Hum Dono (1985) after which he retired from acting. He died in 1992 of a heart attack at the age of sixty-five.

Selected filmography

Films

Aab-e-hayat

Acting filmography

Year	Film	Character / Role	Notes
1990	Kishan Kanhaiya	Deulatram
1985	Hum Dono	Lata's Father
1982	Desh Premee	Puthu Anna
1981	Krodhi	Jagira
1980	Karz	Sir Judah
1980	Guest House	Christopher
1980	Dhan Daulat	Mangat
1979	Muqabla	Police Inspector
1979	Jaani Dushman	Pujari
1979	Lok Parlok	Yamraaj
1979	Gautam Govinda	Dharamdutt
1979	Dhongee	Mr. John Lord / Gurkha Bahadur
1978	Vishwanath	GNK
1978	Shalimar	Raja Bahadur Singh
1978	Heeralal Pannalal	Inspector Premlal
1977	Sat Sri Akal		Punjabi Film
1977	Shirdi Ke Sai Baba	Som Dev
1977	Jadu Tona
1977	Farishta Ya Qatil
1977	Darinda
1977	Chandi Sona	Lord Mayor Jojo
1977	Chala Murari Hero Banne
1976	Nagin	Sapera
1976	Kalicharan	IG P.N. Khanna
1976	Kabeela	Sardar Babbar
1976	Nehle pe Dehla
1976	Janeman	Ram Bharose
1976	Jai Bajrang Bali	Lankeshwar Shri Ravan
1976	Dus Numbri	Inspector Jaichan
1976	Aap Beati	Bajrang Bahadur
1975	Sanyasi	Mangal Singh
1975	Rani Aur Lalpari	Yamraj
1975	Dhoti Lota Aur Chowpatty	Imandar Pauwala
1975	Dharmatma	Dharamdas 'Dharmatma'
1975	Dharam Karam	Shankar Dada
1975	Dafaa 302
1974	Roti Kapda Aur Makaan	Harnam Singh	Nominated for 1974 Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor
1974	Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye	Mangal Singh
1974	Ishq Ishq Ishq	Pahar
1974	Amir Garib	Daulatram	Nominated for 1974 Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor
1973	Nafrat	CBI Inspector Kumar
1973	Loafer	Villain
1973	Chhupa Rustam	Williams
1973	Bobby	Jack Braganza	Nominated for 1973 Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor
1972	Wafaa	Barrister
1972	Shor	Khan Badshah	Nominated for 1972 Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor
1972	Rani Mera Naam
1972	Raja Jani	Diwan Gajendra Singh
1972	Mom Ki Gudiya	Vakil Uncle
1972	Be-Imaan	DIG Gopal Das
1971	Tere Mere Sapne	Seth Madhochand
1970	Pushpanjali	Peter D'Costa
1970	Johny Mera Naam	Ranjit/Rai Saab Bhupendra Singh
1971	Gora Aur Kala	Prithvi Singh
1969	Kenner	Sandy	American film
1967	Baharon Ke Sapne	Mr. Kapoor
1966	Teesri Manzil	Kunwer
1966	Pyar Mohabbat	Senapati Uday Kumar Singh
1966	Amrapali	Magadh Senpati Veer
1965	Sikandar-e-Azam	Chirag
1963	Rustam Sohrab	Rustam Sohrab
1963	Shaheed Bhagat Singh
1960	Apna Ghar
1957	Samundar
1953	Aurat	Adil
1952	Saaki
1952	Aan	Shamsher Singh
1951	Badal	Badal
1951	Naujawan	Raju
1951	Awaara		Cameo Appearance
1951	Sagai	Prem
1950	Hindustan Hamara
1949	Barsaat	Gopal
1948	Ajit
1948	Aag	Rajan
1947	Daulat Ke Liye

Directed films

• Samundar (1957), only film for P. N. Films, home production.

TV series

• Maya TV series (1 episode, 1967)

External links

• Prem Nath at the Internet Movie Database
• Monty Nath on father Premnath
• Poise and pearly smiles
• Article in The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum