Premnath

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Pradesh after independence. Later he shifted to Mumbai when his sister Krishna was wedded to actor Raj Kapoor. While searching for job Premnath had a brief stint in Indian Army but he left it for his penchant for cinema. He was a film buff and being tall and handsome he would dream of becoming a hero. Fortunately with Raj Kapoor being his brother-in-law, he gave a small role in his first film Aag but when the film did not do well at box office, Raj Kapoor was in dilemma.

Premnath hit bull’s eye with his hit film Barsaat After the failure of Aag, Raj Kapoor was in tight corner as he had many ideas but no funds hence Raj Kapoor and Premnath together worked hard and on a shoe string budget they made the film Barsaat. The film had maximum new comers but the dedication, devotion and their sheer hard work paid off as the film was super hit and every new comer became a star! Among the debutants were actress Nimmi, actor Premnath, Music director Shanker Jaikishan, lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra and story writer Ramanand Sagar, who later became top filmmaker and made TV serial Ramayan! Thus like everybody Premnath too become a big star and did films with Meena Kumari, Vyjayanthimala, Bina Rai etc. Premnath was a failure as hero Though after Barsaat, Premnath was offered leading man role in films like Badal, Sagai, Chengiz Khan, Rustum Sohrab, but most of the film were flop. His Jodi with Bina Rai was hit with Aurat and to bank this Jodi he even turned producer in the 50’s. He made few films under the banner of P N Films with Bina Rai and himself but all the films like Shagufa, Samunder, Prisoner of Golconda' and Watan were flop. Filmmaker Vijay Anand rescued Premnath from a flop career After giving a series of flop films as hero Premnath tried to produce film to make his career. However as a producer too he had heavy losses. In the 60’s his career was ruined and he sat ideal at home. The cruel film industry had forgotten Premnath but thanks to film maker Vijay Anand (Who made Guide, Hum Dona, Jewel Thief). When filmmaker Nasir Hussain signed him to direct a romantic - crime thriller Tesri Manzil, Vijay Anand decided to have a new villain. Instead of the signing the off-repeated Pran, who was the top villain in 60’s, Vijay Anand decided to sign Premnath, who had earlier played a convincing role of villain in Mehboob Khan’s film Aan (1952) opposite thespian Dilip Kumar. Hence he approached him. Initially he was hesitant but Vijay convinced him and the result was the film was hit and Premnath was back in the film industry. He gave many hit films as Gora Aur Kala, Baharon Ke Sapne, Pyar Mohabbat, Amrapali etc. In the 70’s Vijay Anand gave Premnath his career’s most successful role in his film Johny Mera Naam (1970). As Rai Sahab, Premnath played the kingpin of a diamond smuggler’s gang. He is depicted as an aristocrat, who has a royal lifestyle. He is a psychotic pervert and alcoholic. The highlight of the film was the erotic cabaret song Husn Ke Lakhon Rang….shot on the sexy and voluptuous Padma Khan who entertains Rai Sahab with her seductive striptease. The movie was a huge hit and elevated Premnath to become the number 1 villain in Bollywood and made him the highest paid villain. Premnath ruled the 70’s as a versatile actor After Johny Mera Naam, Premnath ruled Bollywood as a versatile actor and did a verity of roles in films like Shor (1972), Bobby (1973), Amir Garib (1974), Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974), Dharmatma (1975), Kalicharan (1976), Desh Premee (1982). In fact filmmaker Subhash Ghai was so bowled over by Premnath in his debut film Kalicharan that later Premnath became a permanent artist in all his films like Vishwanath (1978), Gautam Govinda (1979), Karz (1980) and Krodhi (1981). The only thing that is strange is that in Kalicharan. Premnath played a positive role and in his next all films he played a villain. Premnath was the first Indian actor to act in American TV serial Even before Indian actor Saeed Jaffrey and Kabir Bedi made foray in Western Cinema, Premnath was the first Indian actor to be cast in an American TV series Maya which was aired in 1967. Besides he also holds the reputation of playing a pivotal in Hollywood film Kenner (1969) staring Jim Brown, Madlyn Rhue, Robert Coote, Ricky Cordell, Charles Horvath etc. Premnath also did few Panjabi films like Sat Sri Akal (1977).