Shyam Laha (26 November 1911 – 25 October 1973) was an Indian actor in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and

Hindi 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 ...

-language films. He was known for his

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

acting.

Early life

Shyam Laha was born in 1911 in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

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 ...

. His original name was Kashinath Shil. Laha passed matriculation from Bangabashi Collegiate School. He was interested in music, playing the ''

Tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

''.

Career

Actor

Pahari Sanyal Pahari Sanyal (22 February 1906 – 10 February 1974) was an Indian actor and singer who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. Sanyal acted in many Bengali films, such as ''Harano Sur'', ''Bhanu Goenda Jahar Assistant'', and ''Shilpi''. B ...

was impressed by Laha at a function of the Bengali club 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 ...

and introduced him to Bengali director cum actor

Pramathesh Barua Pramathesh Chandra Barua (24 October 1903 – 29 November 1951) was an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter of Indian films in the pre-independence era, born in Gauripur, Dhubri, Assam. Early life Barua was the son of the royal family of ...

. Laha became popular after acting in

Debaki Bose Debaki Bose (1898–1971), also known as Debaki Kumar Bose, was an Indian director, writer, and actor who is recognized for his contribution in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. He was born on 25 November 1898 in Akalposh, (now East Burdwan), Bu ...

's film ''Chandidas''. He acted in the first animated Bengali film Pear Brothers in 1934. Music director Rai Chand Boral formed his independent MLB production company with Laha. He also appeared in theatres as well as being a radio comic. Laha performed in a comedy duo with another comedian Nabadwip Haldar in various films as a Bengali version of

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

Filmography

* ''Pear Brothers'' * ''Bhagya Chakra'' * '' Dhoop Chhaon'' * '' Pujarin'' * ''Dharti Mata'' * ''Sapera'' * ''

Bagha Jatin Bagha Jatin (; ) or Baghajatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee (); 7 December 1879 – 10 September 1915) was an Indian independence activist. He was the principal leader of the Jugantar party that was the central association of revolutionary i ...

'' * '' Zindagi'' * ''Milan'' * ''Dampati'' * ''Sahadharmini'' * ''

Marutirtha Hinglaj ''Marutirtha Hinglaj'' (''English: Hinglaj, the Desert Shrine'') is a 1959 Indian Bengali-language drama film directed and produced by Bikash Roy. This was based on a same name travelogue of Bengali novelist Kalikananda Abadhuta. The film was ma ...

'' * ''

Ekti Raat ''Ekti Raat'' ( ''One Night'') is a 1956 Indian Bengali-language comedy film directed by Chitta Basu and produced by Harendranath Chattopadhyay based on, ''Bhimpalashree'', a story of Bengali novelist Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay. Film starring U ...

'' * ''Manikjore'' * ''Samadhan'' * ''

Kalo Chhaya ''Kalo Chhaya'' (Dark Shadows) is a Bengali suspense thriller film directed by Premendra Mitra and produced by Gouranga Prasad Basu. This film was released on 17 December 1948 in the banner of Eastern Studio. Plot A lady visited Mr. Surajit Ro ...

'' * ''

Noukadubi ''Noukadubi'' ( bn, নৌকাডুবি, ''Boat wreck'') is a Bengali novel written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1906. The novel was first published in Bangadarshan, a Bengali literary magazine which was under the editorship of Rabindranath ...

'' * ''Neelachaley Mahaprabhu'' * ''Niruddesh'' * ''

Saat Number Kayedi ''Saat Number Kayedi'' (Prisoner Number Seven) is a Bengali drama film directed by Sukumar Dasgupta based on the same name story of Diptendra Sanyal. This film was released on 7 February 1953 under the banner of S. M. Productions. This was firs ...

'' * ''

Hanabari ''Hanabari'' (The Haunted House) Bengali: হানাবাড়ী is a Bengali black and white thriller film released in 1952. Story, screenplay and direction were done by Bengali writer Premendra Mitra. The music director was Pabitra Ch ...

'' * ''

Uttar Falguni ''Uttar Falguni'' () is a 1963 Indian Bengali-language drama film directed by Asit Sen and produced by Uttam Kumar, starring Suchitra Sen in a double role, Bikash Roy and Dilip Mukherjee in lead. At the 11th National Film Awards, the film was ...

'' * ''

Indrani Indrani (Sanskrit: इन्द्राणी, IAST: ''Indrāṇī, lit.'' Indra's queen), also known as Shachi (Sanskrit: शची, IAST: ''Śacī''), is the queen of the devas in Hinduism. Described as tantalisingly beautiful, proud and ki ...

'' * ''

Lakh Taka ''Lakh Taka'' is a Bengali drama film directed by Niren Lahiri, and starring Uttam Kumar, Sabitri Chatterjee, Bhanu Banerjee, Chhabi Biswas and Jahor Roy. The music direction is by Shyamal Mitra and Niren Lahiri. It was released on 1 January 1 ...

'' * ''

Bhanu Goenda Jahar Assistant ''Bhanu Goenda Jahar Assistant'' is an Indian Bengali-language romantic comedy film directed by Purnendu Roy Chowdhury and produced by Badalraja Sinha. This film was released in 1971 under the banner of Joydeep Pictures. Shyamal Mitra was the mu ...

'' * ''

Basanta Bilap ''Basanta Bilap'' is a 1973 Indian Bengali language Romantic comedy film directed by Dinen Gupta, based on a story by writer Bimal Kar. Plot The story revolves around a group of girls (4 of them are focussed mainly), all boarders of a working l ...

'' * ''

Deya Neya ''Deya Neya'' (English: ''Give and Take'', released 1963) is a Bengali film directed by Sunil Bandopadhyay and starring Uttam Kumar and Tanuja in lead roles. This is a romantic comedy film which portrays a man's struggle on a light note and en ...

'' * '' Sharey Chuattar'' * ''

Jamalaye Jibanta Manush ''Jamalaye Jibanta Manush'' () is a 1958 Indian Bengali-language romantic comedy film directed by Prafulla Chakraborty and produced by Ananta Singh, member of Chittagong armoury raid. This film, based on the novel of Dinabandhu Mitra in the sa ...

'' * '' Antony Firingee'' * ''

Shriman Prithviraj ''Shriman Prithviraj'' ( bn, শ্রীমান পৃথ্বীরাজ; ) is a 1973 Indian Bengali romantic comedy film starring Ayan Banerjee and Mahua Roy Choudhury, and directed by Tarun Majumdar, featuring teenage love. It has a cul ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laha, Shyam 1911 births 1973 deaths Male actors in Bengali cinema Indian stand-up comedians Indian male radio actors People from West Bengal Male actors from Kolkata 20th-century Indian male actors 20th-century comedians