Puneet Issar

up> November 1959. Puneet belongs to a Punjabi Hindu family who migrated from Pakistan after the 1947 partition.

Puneet Issar has worked in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films and television shows.He started his career in acting with Manmohan Desai’s 1993 film Coolie as the villain. He gained a lot of recognition for his powerful and iconic role of Duryodhana in B.R. Chopra’s cult television series, Mahabharat, between 1988 and 1990. Puneet looked every bit wicked in the role of the vicious Duryodhana in the Mahabharat serial, which had created quite a stir all over India. The serial went on to become one of the most popular and classic serials in Indian television.

Following Mahabharat, Puneet acted in films like Chandra Mukhi in 1993, Prem Shakti in 1994, Ram Jaane in 1995, Border in 1997, Refugee in 2000, Krrish in 2006, Bachna Ae Haseeno in 2008, Ready in 2011, Son of Sardaar in 2012, and The Kashmir Files in 2022.

Puneet Issar’s first directorial film was Garv in 2004, starring Salman Khan as the cop.

His television shows were Param Vir Chakra, released in 1987; Bharat Ek Khoj in 1988; and Junoon, which was telecasted between 1993 and 1998.Noorjahan, which was in the period 1999 to 1000.Followed by Mahabharat in 2013, Parchhayee: Ghost Stories by Ruskin Bond in 2019, and Choti Sardaarni in 2021.He was also a contestant in the reality television show Bigg Boss 8 in the years 2014 and 2015.The show was hosted by Salman Khan.Earlier he worked as a dialect coach at various acting institutes and has expertise in speech diction and physical fitness.

Puneet Issar has over the years starred as a villain in over 150 films. Some of the most popular films are Zakhmi Aurat, Kal Ki Aawaz, Palay Khan, Teja, and Prem Shakti. He starred opposite actors such as Mohanlal, Salman Khan, and Akshay Kumar.He played the villainous role in the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Ram Jaane.He worked in the film Border and then as Parshurama in the 2013 Mahabharata.

Puneet Issar has essayed the role of Indian Superman, which was a Bollywood version of the Hollywood Superman films.He played the second lead in the horror film Purana Mandir in 1983 and later did a few more horror films, and one of them was Tehkhana in the 1980s.

Issar starred in the film Coolie in 1982, which involved him in an on-shoot incident with Amitabh Bachchan.He had an accidental injury resulting in a nearly fatal situation, as Amitabh Bachchan suffered a lot and was hospitalized and battled between life and death.Due to this, Puneet Issar had to face a lot of backlash and had to face a lot of problems after this incident, and getting roles in films also became a major problem for him, as he lost 7 to 8 films due to the dishonor with the incident that had left a bad taste.

However, he had bounced back after a few years . Puneet started directing. He directed the television serials such as Hindustani and Jai Mata Ki starring Hema Malini. Viram Aur Betaal and many more.He also had appeared in the 1800 episodes on Indian television wherein he essayed the role of King Bimbisara in the feature film Gautama Buddha—The Life and Times of Gautama Buddha.He starred in Left Right Left, showcased on SAB TV.

Puneet Issar has worked in several Punjabi films as well, and to name a few, there is Rab Ne Banayian Jodiyan. He worked in Telugu films. He is known to give brilliant performances in every character he has enacted , especially his acting skills in the mythological film Suryaputra Shanidev, which was released in the year 1997.

He was the 7^th finalist in the Big Boss Season 8 show in 2014-2015 but had exited the show in January 2015.He was one of the oldest contestants at 56. He later played the role of Daar Ji in Choti Sarrdaarni.

Puneet Issar’s most recent is the 2022 film The Kashmir Files, in which he played DGP Hari Narain . The film is based on the Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.