Photo: AnonymousUnknown author / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Balraj Sahni is, to me, one of the genuinely soulful figures of Indian cinema. Born in what is now Rawalpindi and shaped by the trauma of Partition, he carried a lived gravity into roles that lesser actors could only mimic. I admire that he was not merely a screen face but a stage actor, screenwriter and autobiographer, an artist whose work in films like Do Bigha Zameen turned the suffering of the rural poor into something dignified and unforgettable. The 1969 Padma Shri and his literary brother round out a portrait of a cultured, principled man. I respect performers who chose honesty over flash, and Sahni is the standard-bearer.
Overview
Balraj Sahni (born Yudhishthir Sahni; 1 May 1913 – 13 April 1973) was an Indian film and stage actor, who is best known for Dharti Ke Lal (1946), Hum Log (1951), Do Bigha Zameen (1953), Chhoti Bahen (1959), Kabuliwala (1961), Waqt (1965) and Garm Hava (1973). He was the brother of Bhisham Sahni, the Hindi writer, playwright, and actor.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Balraj Sahni
- Name (Japanese)
- バルラージ・サーヘニー
- Reading
- ばるらーじ・さーへにー
- Born
- May 1, 1913 – April 13, 1973
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Ox
- Origin
- Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi District, Pakistan
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- stage actor / film actor / autobiographer / screenwriter / writer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Government College University
Awards & achievements
- 1969 Padma Shri in arts
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Stage actor — see all → · Film actor — see all → · More people from Pakistan →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.