Motilal went to Bombay to join the Navy, became a hero: Mahatma Gandhi praised his acting, he was penniless due to his addiction to alcohol and gambling

Be it Dilip Kumar’s ‘Paigam’, ‘Devdas’ or Raj Kapoor’s ‘Jaagte Raho’, the one who proved his acting skills in all these films was the best actor of the past, Motilal, whose 59th death anniversary is today. Motilal worked in Hindi films for about three decades. During this time, he did about 60 films. He gained popularity by playing the character of Chunni Babu in the 1955 film ‘Devdas’. He was called the first natural actor of Hindi films for his excellent acting. Motilal came to Bombay to join the Navy, but fate brought him to films. He played the character of an untouchable in the 1940 film ‘Achhut’, for which he received praise from Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Mohanlal remained in the news because of his style and personal life. He belonged to a very rich family, but in the end, due to some of his mistakes, he became penniless. Talking about his personal life, his love story with Shobhana Samarth, the legendary actress of his time, was quite famous. He died in 1965 at the age of 54. Let’s take a look at some interesting facts related to Motilal’s life… Went to join the Navy, got a film Motilal was born on 4 December 1910 in Shimla. His father was a well-known educationist, who died when Motilal was only one year old. Motilal was brought up by his uncle, who was a well-known surgeon of Delhi. Motilal did his early education in an English school in Shimla. Then later he studied school and college from Delhi, because his uncle brought him from Shimla to Delhi. After completing college studies, Motilal came to Bombay. He came here to join the Navy, but fell so ill at the last moment that he could not give the test. Fate had something else in store for him, so one day he went to see the shooting of a film being shot at Sagar Studio in Bombay. Its director was KP Ghosh, who was the owner of Sagar Production Company. When KP saw Motilal, he was impressed by his personality. KP Ghosh offered Motilal a film. He offered 24-year-old Motilal to be the hero in the film ‘Sheher Ka Jadoo’. Motilal did not know anything about acting, but on the insistence of KP Ghosh, he signed the film. Motilal’s acting was liked in the film and he got offers for many films. In 1934 itself, he was also seen in the film Watan Parast. Even after this, he appeared back to back in films like Silver King, Doctor Madhurika, Do Ghadi Ki Mauj, Lagna Bandhan, Jeevan Lata, Do Deewane, Dilawar, Kokila, Kulvadhu, Jagirdar. Around 1940, Motilal started experimenting with his characters. While other actors were choosing roles with a romantic image, Motilal started choosing bold roles which other actors were hesitant to do. When Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel praised him Motilal surprised everyone by playing the role of an untouchable in the 1940 film ‘Achhut’. Motilal did such a great job in this film giving a social message that he was appreciated by legends like Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. After this film, Motilal’s name started being included in the list of big actors of the film industry. One thing about Motilal made him different from other actors and that was that he played his character in such a natural way that it did not look like acting. For this reason, he was given the title of the first natural actor of Hindi films. He also received a lot of praise for his acting in the film ‘Mr. Sampat’, but Motilal’s star reached new heights with Dilip Kumar starrer ‘Devdas’ released in 1955. He played the role of Chunni Babu in this film, for which he received the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. Motilal’s riches were talked about in the film industry. Motilal did not step into films to earn money. He belonged to a rich family, so he had no shortage of money. His lifestyle also testified to this. Motilal loved to mingle with high class society. He was famous in the entire film industry for his carefree nature. Motilal, who was always in top shape in suits and boots, was also very fond of wearing hats. Motilal was also very fond of driving cars at high speed, horse riding and playing cricket. He used to play cricket with co-stars whenever he got a break during shooting. He was also fond of flying planes, for which he had also taken a license. Had affair with two actresses, did not marry Many actresses were also quite impressed with Motilal’s carefree lifestyle, but only two actresses in the entire film industry were successful in winning Motilal’s heart. These were Shobhana Samarth and Nadira. Motilal was in a relationship with Nadira, but they did not marry and then they broke up. After breaking up with Nadira, Motilal fell in love with Shobhana Samarth. Motilal met Shobhana Samarth while working in Sagar Film Company’s films. Both met during the shooting of a film. Soon both became good friends. Shobhana was a famous actress of that time. When she became friends with Motilal, she was married and mother of four children. Shobhana was married to Kumarsen Samarth, with whom her relationship was not going well. Shobhana looked at Motilal only as a friend, but Motilal was infatuated with Shobhana. It did not matter to him that she was married and mother of four children. Eventually Shobhana’s marriage with Sen broke. Motilal proposed to her, but at first she did not agree, but after a lot of persuasion, Shobhana finally accepted Motilal’s proposal. Both did not get married, but their closeness was always in the news. Motilal became dependent on every penny in the end. Motilal lived most of his life in luxury, but in his last days he was troubled. Actually, his addiction to alcohol and gambling ruined him. He also invested a lot of money in horse racing and lost it. Due to excessive drinking, Motilal’s health started deteriorating around 1960, due to which he reduced working in films. In an interview, Motilal himself revealed that he had suffered three heart attacks. During this time, instead of acting in films, Motilal turned to script writing, direction and production. He wrote, produced and directed the film ‘Chhoti Chhoti Baatein’, but he died before its release. He was given two National Awards posthumously for this film. In 1965, Motilal also worked in a Bhojpuri film named ‘Solah Singar Kare Dulhaniya’. This film was released just before his death. Motilal died on 17 June 1965.

Source link