Biography
After Sawan Bhadon Navin Nischol gave a string of hits Call it destiny after the success of Sawan Bhadon that celebrated Golden Jubilee at 38 to 40 centre in India, it was a major box office bonanza. Hence Navin Nischol was signed by top filmmakers like B.R.Chopra for Dhund; N.C.Sippy for Parwana (Opposite Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha) , Hrishikesh Mukherjee for Buddha Mil Gaya; Birj Victoria No. 203, Lekh Tandon for Ek Baar Kaho and Chetan Anand for Hanste Zakhm etc. And all these films were super hit making Navin Nischol a star! Bad decisions and ego cost Navin Nischol his career In an interview Navin Nischol himself confessed that he was blindfolded by the sudden success that he had never imagined. As a result he made wrong choices of films and left out good movies like Gulzar’s Mere Apne, in which he had been signed to play lead role of Vinod Khanna. Besides Manoj Kumar’s mega hit film Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, he was offered the role that later Shashi Kapoor played. Another very important film that Navin Nischol rejected and repented all his life was Yash Chopra’s all time classic Deewaar. The reason why Navin Nischol rejected the film was his ego. He was quite angry with Amitabh Bachchan as he had overshadowed him in the film Parwana and taken all laurels and applause. Hence when Yashji asked him to play the police officer role (later played by Shashi Kapoor) he declined wondering Bachchan would again overpower him! Incidentally after Amitabh Bachchan became a superstar, Navin Nischol realized his folly and when Manmohan Desai asked him to play a police officer role opposite Amitabh Bachchan in his film Desh Premee, Navin Nischol agreed. But it was too late. Navin Nischol switched to character roles After failure as hero in A grade movies, Navin Nischol moved to B-Grade movies like Khanjar, Hotel, Saboot etc But when he could not survive in such movies too he switched to character role in films like Teri Baahon Mein, Samundar, The Burning Train and Major Saab. Occasionally, his talent was recognized but towards the end of his career in films like Raju Ban Gaya Gentelman, Khosla ka Ghosla, Aastha (with Rekha) and Break Ke Baad Navin Nischol joined TV to make a living Though Navin Nischol was broken as an actor but he lived a princely lifestyle hence to make a living he joined TV and did many serials like Rishte Naate, Farmaan, Junoon, Waqt Ki Raftaar and the most popular Dekh Bhai Dekh, with Farida Jalal and Shekhar Suman.
Career & Achievements
Navin Nischol regarded Hanste Zakhm as his best role Navin Nischol worked with top film directors like B.R.Chopra , Manmohan Desai , Hrishikesh Mukherjee , Birj , Lekh Tandon but the film director he liked most was legendary film maker Chetan Anand in whose film Hanste Zakhm , he really enjoyed acting and learnt the craft of histrionics. In the film there is a hit song Turn jo mil gaye ho to aisa lagta hai…. which Navin Nischol sings in a car. But the lyrics of the song were so difficult that that Navin Nischol found hard to lip sync. Hence before shooting he asked Chetan Anand will he be talking a lengthy shot or short takes? Chetan Sahab told him that if he is a good actor then he will take lengthy shot or else he would have no option! Navin Nischol in an interview said, “I was left dazed by his straightforward reply and in a bid to prove him that I am a good actor, I learnt the song by-heart by listening it repeatedly. I would play the song in my car; even while I moved from on studio to another.” “When the song was filmed, Chetan Sahab shot it in a single take and appreciated me to be a good actor, “he quipped.
