Parikshit Sahni (born 1 January 1944) is an Indian actor who is known for playing the lead in TV series Barrister Vinod, ''

Gul Gulshan Gulfaam ''Gul Gulshan Gulfaam'' is a 1987 DD National television serial directed by Ved Rahi and produced by Prem Krishen (Cinevistaas). It was one of the first serials to be based in Kashmir and portray a Kashmiri family: It became an instant hit

'' (

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

) and ''Gaatha'' (

Star Plus StarPlus is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedies, ...

). He has also appeared in three of

Rajkumar Hirani Rajkumar Hirani (born 20 November 1962), also called Raju Hirani, is an Indian filmmaker, director, producer and editor known for his works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards and eleve ...

's blockbuster films ''

Lage Raho Munna Bhai ''Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (; ) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the follow-up ...

'', ''

3 Idiots ''3 Idiots'' (stylized as ''3 idiots'') is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Cheta ...

'', and '' PK''. He is the son of actor

Balraj Sahni Brigadier Balraj (born Balasegaram Kandiah) was a senior commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Early life Balraj was the fifth and youngest child of Kandiah and Kannagias. He received his primary education in Kokkuthoduwaai ...

and nephew of writer

Bhisham Sahni Bhisham Sahni (8 August 1915 – 11 July 2003) was an Indian writer, playwright in Hindi and an actor, most famous for his novel and television screenplay '' Tamas'' ("Darkness, Ignorance"), a powerful and passionate account of the Partition of ...

Early life

He was born in Muree in the

Rawalpindi District Rawalpindi District ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropolitan area. Rawalpindi city is the district capi ...

of the Punjab Province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(present day in the

Murree District Murree District (Urdu, ) is a district in the northernmost part of Punjab province of Pakistan, with it being headquartered in Murree city. It is a relatively new district established on 14 October 2022, and is a tourist district of Pakistan. I ...

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

), into a

Punjabi Hindu Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. While Punjabi Hindus are mostly found in the Indian state of Punjab today, many have ancestry from the greater Punjab regio ...

family, while his father was teaching English at

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...

Shantiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

of Rabindranath Tagore, and his mother was doing her Bachelors. Most of his schooling was done at the Lawrence school Sanawar. He then went to study at Delhi's St. Stephen's College. Later, Sahni began his career as a child artist.

Personal life

Sahni's parents were both theatre and film actors, although his mother acted in only a couple of films before her death at an early age in 1947. After her death, his father married Santosh Chandhok two years later. He is married to Aruna Kapur. On the advice of his uncle, Bhishm Sahani, Parikshit Sahni was sent by his father to attend a five-year course in architecture in Moscow. However, since he was poor in maths, he was advised to get admission in Cinema Institute. He cleared the aptitude test and joined the five-year course in film direction in the Moscow Cinema Institute. He returned in 1966 and started his film career in India. He assisted

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...

in ''

Mera Naam Joker ''Mera Naam Joker'' () is a 1970 Indian Hindi romance drama film, directed, edited and produced by Raj Kapoor under his banner R. K. Films, and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. The film stars Raj Kapoor as the eponymous character, with his son Ri ...

'' because Kapoor needed a person who could help him in working with the Russian Circus but he left that to act in ''

Anokhi Raat ''Anokhi Raat'' () is a 1968 Hindi film produced by L. B. Lachman and L. B. Thakur and directed by Asit Sen. The film stars Sanjeev Kumar, Zaheeda Hussain, Aruna Irani, Keshto Mukherjee and Parikshit Sahni. It has music by Roshan. The film ...

.'' Sahni even changed his screen name to Ajay Sahni at the suggestion of his friend Sanjeev Kumar during the shooting of their 1968 film ''

'', before eventually reverting to his own name a few years later.

Career

Sahni starred in the classic

Punjabi film Punjabi cinema, sometimes metonymously referred to as Pollywood or Punjwood is the Punjabi-language film industry centered around the Indian state of Punjab, and based in Amritsar and Mohali. The cinema of Punjab has its beginnings with the ...

''Marhi Da Diva'' (1989), with

Raj Babbar Raj Babbar (born 23 June 1952) is an Indian Hindi and Punjabi film actor and politician belonging to Indian National Congress. three-time member of the Lok Sabha and a two-time member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. He was the Pr ...

Pankaj Kapur Pankaj Kapur (born 29 May 1954) is an Indian actor who has worked in Hindi theatre, television and films. He has appeared in several television serials and films. He is the recipient of several awards, including a Filmfare Award and three Nat ...

Kanwaljit Singh Kanwaljit Singh may refer to: * Kanwaljit Singh (politician), Indian politician * Kanwaljit Singh (actor), Indian actor * Kanwaljit Singh (cricketer), Indian former first-class cricketer * Prince Kanwaljit Singh, Indian Punjabi film actor See al ...

, and

Deepti Naval Deepti Naval (born 3 February 1952) is an Indian-born American actress, director, and writer, predominantly active in Hindi cinema. Her major contribution has been in the area of art cinema, winning critical acclaim for her sensitive and 'clos ...

. He played a remarkable role in the Hindi film ''

Pavitra Paapi ''Pavitra Papi'' ( Punjabi: ਪਵਿੱਤਰ ਪਾਪੀ; English:"The Holy Sinner") is a 1970 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Rajendra Bhatia. The film stars Balraj Sahni, Parikshit Sahni and Tanuja. The movie was based on a P ...

'' (1970) which was based on a Punjabi novel by

Nanak Singh Nanak Singh, (b. 4 July 1897 as Hans Raj – 28 December 1971), was an Indian poet, songwriter, and novelist of the Punjabi language. His literary works in support of India's independence movement led the British to arrest him. He published nov ...

(a famous novelist). Pavitra Paapi also featured his real life father, Balraj Sahni in a pivotal role. He acted in the

television series ''

The Great Maratha ''The Great Maratha'' is an Indian historical drama television series directed by Sanjay Khan and produced by Numero Uno International Limited. The drama aired on DD National. The series is based on the life of Mahadaji Shinde. The show compr ...

'' as

Malhar Rao Holkar Malhar Rao Holkar (16 March 1693 – 20 May 1766) was a noble subedar of the Maratha Empire, in present-day India. He was one of the early officers along with Ranoji Scindia to help spread the Maratha rule to northern states and was given the e ...

. One of his most famous films was the Amitabh and Shashi Kapoor starer

Kaala Patthar ''Kaala Patthar'' () is a 1979 Indian Hindi-language action drama film produced and directed by Yash Chopra, with a screenplay written by Salim–Javed. The film was based on the Chasnala mining disaster, and is the fourth collaboration betw ...

. He acted in the film ''

'' in which he played the rolse of

R. Madhavan Ranganathan Madhavan (born 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer who predominantly appears in Tamil and Hindi films. Madhavan has won four Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Madhava ...

's father. He acted in the TV series ''

Heena Heena (1997 - June 11, 2005) was a police dog of the Mumbai Police, India. Heena was a sniffer Labrador trained by the police to sniff out explosives. The high point of his career was the detection of RDX explosives in a BEST bus in the subu ...

'' as Nawab Mirza, Heena's father. ''Heena'' ended in 2003. Sahni played Veer Singh (Kakasa) on the popular

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 2 October 1992, as the first privately owned TV channel in the country. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee TV also ...

serial '' Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar'' opposite

Nivedita Bhattacharya Nivedita Bhattacharya (born 21 July 1970) is an Indian actress. She was born in Lucknow. She is an actress who has acted on television and in films. Filmography * ''Kya Kehna'' (2000) - Preity Zinta's sister-in-law * '' Darr @ the Mall'' (2 ...

Filmography

Films

TV series

References

External links

*
''I met a hermit on the run'' – Article by Parikshit Sahni
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahni, Parikshit Indian male film actors Indian male television actors Male actors in Hindi cinema Living people Lawrence School, Sanawar alumni Delhi University alumni People from Murree 1944 births