Biography of Balraj Sahni

(May 1, 1913 - April 13, 1973)


Balraj Sahni was born on May 1, 1913 in Rawalpindi. He studied at the Government College of Lahore. Possessing a prevalent desire for both nationalism and westernisation, he started writing English poetry and got involved with the realist' theatre. While teaching Hindi and English at Shantiniketan, he wrote his first compilation of Hindi fiction 'Sahazadon Ka Drink' in 1936.


He also worked as a journalist and briefly as a radio announcer for BBC's Hindi Service. He came to Mumbai in 1947 and became a key feature in Indian People's Theatre Association (I.P.T.A.). He starred in K.A. Abbas's first film 'Dharti Ke Lall’, the only film produced by I.P.T.A. He made his presence felt in Zia Sarhadi's realistic film ‘Hum Log’ in 1951, 'Do Bigha Zameen', directed by Bimal Roy, was perhaps Balraj Sahni's greatest and most well-known film. His other films include ‘Garam Coat’, "Kabuliwallah, 'Lajwanti', 'Kathputli', 'Waqt’, "Do Raaste' and 'Ek Phool Do Mali'. He remained a left activist all his life. Sahni died in 1973.