Nazir Hussain (15 May 1922 – 16 October 1987) was an Indian actor,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. He was famous as a character actor in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

and acted in almost 500 films.

Dev Anand Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand (26 September 1923 – 3 December 2011), better known as Dev Anand, was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer known for his work in Hindi cinema, through a career that spanned over six decades. He was ...

starred in a large proportion of the films he acted in.

Early life

Nazir Hussain's father Shahabzad Khan was a guard in the

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and Hussain grew up in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

. He himself worked as a fireman in the railways for few months and soon joined the

British army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was posted in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

where he became a prisoner of war. After being freed, he came under the influence of

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

and joined the

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...

(INA). He was accorded the status of

freedom fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

and was given a free railway pass for life.

Film career

After the INA, unable to find jobs, he began performing in plays. B. N. Sircar of

New Theatres New Theatres is an Indian film studio. It was formed in Calcutta by producer B. N. Sircar (Birendranath Sircar, the recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award of 1970). It was formed on 10 February 1931. Motto of this company was– ''Jivatang Jyotire ...

, impressed by his performance, called him to Calcutta to join New Theatres. In

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, he met

Bimal Roy Bimal Roy (12 July 1909 – 8 January 1966) was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as ''Do Bigha Zamin'', ''Parineeta (1953 film), Parineeta'', ''Biraj Bahu'', ''Devdas (1955 film), D ...

and became his assistant. He joined with

to make the film ''Pahela Aadmi'', based on the INA experience. He not only acted in the film, but also wrote the story and co-wrote the dialogues for the film. ''Pehla Aadmi'' was released in 1950 and launched him to stardom and he became a permanent fixture in Bimal Roy's movies. Later, he worked in many socialist themed films such as ''

Do Bigha Zamin ''Do Bigha Zamin'' () is a 1953 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Bimal Roy. Based on Rabindranath Tagore's Bengali poem " Dui Bigha Jomi", the film stars Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy in lead roles. Known for its socialist theme, it is c ...

'', ''

Devdas ''Devdas'' ( bn, দেবদাস, transliterated as ''Debdās'') is a Bengali romance novel written by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. The story pivots a tragic triangle linking Devdas, an archetypal lover in viraha (separation); Paro, his forbidden ...

'' and ''

Naya Daur ''Naya Daur'' may refer to: * ''Naya Daur'' (1957 film) * ''Naya Daur'' (1978 film) * ''Naya Daur'' (magazine), a literary magazine published by Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Prade ...

''. ''

Munimji ''Munimji'' () is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film starring Dev Anand and Nalini Jaywant, and directed by Subodh Mukherjee. The story idea was by Ranjan, screenplay was by Nasir Hussain and dialogues by Nasir Hussain and Qamar ...

'', a 1955 Indian Hindi movie was the first film he did with actor

. The story idea was by Ranjan, and screenplay and dialogues by Nazir Hussain. The team of

Mukherjee Mukherjee, Mukerjee, Mookerjee, Mukerji, Mukherji, Mukhujje or Mookherjee is a Kulin Brahmin surname of the Hindu Religion, common among residents of the Indian state of West Bengal. The traditional Bengali version is ''Mukhopaddhae'', which is ...

, Nazir Hussain,

and music director

S.D. Burman Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. A member of the Tripura royal family, he started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one o ...

later collaborated to produce another movie, ''

Paying Guest ''Paying Guest'' is a 1957 Bollywood Romance drama film directed by Subodh Mukherjee. The film stars Dev Anand and Nutan along with Shubha Khote. The soundtrack, composed by Sachin Dev Burman, received a degree of popularity and made a lasti ...

'', in 1957. ''

Main Sunder Hoon ''Main Sunder Hoon'' () is a 1971 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by R. Krishnan and Nazir Hussain. The film stars Mehmood and Leena Chandavarkar. It is a remake of the 1964 Tamil film '' Server Sundaram''. Plot Sunder works in a ho ...

'' is a 1971

Hindi language Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by R. Krishnan and Nazir Hussain.

Bhojpuri cinema

Hussain discussed the possibility of a

Bhojpuri cinema Bhojpuri cinema is an Indian film industry of Bhojpuri-language motion pictures. It is based in western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh with major production centres in Lucknow and Patna. Bhojpuri cinema is a major part of Bihari cinema. The f ...

industry with Indian president

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

. He is considered as the Pitamah of Bhojpuri cinema. Hussain created ''

Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo ''Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo'' (English: O Mother Ganga I will offer you a yellow cloth) is a Bhojpuri film released in 1963 directed by Kundan Kumar. It was the first-ever Bhojpuri film, and starred Kumkum, Ashim Kumar and Nazir Hussain ...

'' (1963), the first Bhojpuri film. Nazir turned producer with Bhojpuri film Hamaar Sansar and also directed it. Hussain was also known for the hit Bhojpuri film '' Balam Pardesia'' in the late 1970s.

Filmography

Associations

Nazir has worked with several eminent actors and actresses of Hindi cinema.Google Books preview from 'Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema'
Gulzar, Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee, Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nazir Hussain Male actors in Bhojpuri cinema Film producers from Uttar Pradesh Hindi-language film directors Filmfare Awards winners 1922 births 1987 deaths Male actors in Hindi cinema 20th-century Indian film directors Male actors from Uttar Pradesh People from Ghazipur Indian male film actors