Arun Kumar Ahuja

Arun Kumar Ahuja
Screen shot from film Beti (1941)
Born Arun Kumar Ahuja
17 January 1917
Gujranwala, Punjab, British India
Died 3 July 1998
(aged 81)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Occupation Actor, Producer
Years active 1939–1954
Spouse(s) Nirmala Devi (1942–1996; her death)
Children 6, including Govinda

Arun Kumar Ahuja (17 January 1917 – 3 July 1998) was an Indian film actor and producer who was active in the Bollywood film industry in the 1940s and early 1950s appearing in over 20 films. He was best known for acting in Mehboob Khan's 1940 film Aurat which was the predecessor of the Oscar nominated 1957 remake Mother India.

Career

Ahuja was brought into films by director Mehboob Khan who cast him in the leading role in Ek Hi Raasta in 1939. He went on to act in over 20 films throughhout the 1940s and early 1950s playing leading and supporting roles. One of his notable films was Mehboob Khan's Aurat (1940) where he acted opposite Sardar Akhtar. This film was later remade as the more famous and well known blockbuster Mother India (1957). He appeared opposite his wife Nirmala Devi in several films such as Savera (1941) and Chalis Karod (1946). After his roles declined in the early 1950s, he quit acting after his last film appearance in Aulad (1954).

He turned to producing but the only film he produced was a box office disaster. The losses suffered from his home production's failure resulted in him shifting his entire family from his bungalow in Mumbai to a chawl in Virar in 1962.[1] His health failed during this time and his wife Nirmala had to work as a singer on radio and touring concerts to provide for the family of four daughters and two sons.[2]

Arun lived a reclusive life after leaving the film industry and died in 1998 at the age of 81.[3]

Personal life & family

Ahuja was born in pre-partition Gujranwala, Punjab, India in 1917. He married singer and actress Nirmala Devi in 1942 after they were cast opposite each other in the film Savera. They were married until Nirmala's death in 1996. Together they had four daughters and two sons. His daughters were Pushpa, Padma and Kamini with another daughter whose name is unknown. His sons are actor and director Kirti Kumar and youngest son is actor Govinda.[4] He is the grandfather of actors Vinay Anand, Krishna Abhishek, Ragini Khanna, Aarti Singh, Soumya Seth and Tina Ahuja. His daughter Padma is the mother of Krishna and Aarti and died in the early 1980s soon after giving birth to Aarti. [5]. His eldest daughter Pushpa who is the mother of Vinay Anand, died in 2011 aged 68.[6]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Govinda-One-day-mummy-predicted-her-own-death-to-me/articleshow/45230262.cms
  2. ↑ https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/films/story/19970728-once-dismissed-as-downmarket-govinda-emerges-as-indias-entertainer-no.1-830439-1997-07-28
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  4. ↑ http://cineplot.com/nirmala-devi-my-son-govinda
  5. ↑ http://www.tellychakkar.com/tv/tv-news/aarti-singh-opens-about-her-foster-parents-160415
  6. ↑ http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/actor-govindas-sister-passes-away/854704
  7. ↑ https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tgo9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT44&lpg=PT44&dq=arun+durable+actor&source=bl&ots=mSebbPeN9m&sig=5Qlkmq0G5l-0l3dwTLlDkhi4WNA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiTu-SZ2JfdAhXLD8AKHenTC2IQ6AEwFHoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=arun%20durable%20actor&f=false



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