Motilal Rajvansh (4 December 1910 – 17 June 1965) was an Indian actor and the winner of Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Devdas (1955) and Parakh (1960).Filmfare Awards He is credited with being among Hindi cinema's first natural actors.
He also directed the film Chhoti Chhoti Baten (1965), but died before its release. At the 13th National Film Awards, it won the award for Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film and he posthumously won the Certificate of Merit for the Best Story Writer.
Early life and background Born in Shimla on 4 December 1910,Indian movie stars died at 54. Pathetic Facts. Retrieved on 9 November 2018. Motilal came from a distinguished family. His father was a renowned educationist, who died when Motilal was one year old. He was brought up by his uncle who was a well-known civil surgeon in Uttar Pradesh. At first, Motilal was sent to an English school at Shimla and later, in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Thereafter, he shifted to Delhi where he continued with school and college.
Acting career Motilal Rajvansh said of his screen career:Motilal. Cineplot.com. Retrieved on 9 November 2018.
After leaving college, Moti came to Bombay to join the Navy, but he fell ill and could not appear for the test. Fate had other choices charted out for him. One day, he went to see a film shoot at Sagar Studios, where director K. P. Ghosh was shooting. Motilal, even then, was quite the man about the town and he caught Ghosh's eye. In 1934 (aged 24), he was offered the hero's role in Shaher Ka Jadoo (1934) by the Sagar Film Company. He later featured in several successful social dramas alongside Sabita Devi, including Dr. Madhurika (1935) and Kulvadhu (1937). He worked with Mehboob Khan in Jagirdar (1937) and Hum Tum Aur Woh (1938) under the Sagar Movietone banner, in Taqdeer (1943) for Mehboob Productions,Darlingji by Kishwar Desai Filmography pg. 433. Published by Harper Collins India and Kidar Sharma's Armaan (1942) and Kaliyan (1944). He also acted in S. S. Vasan's film Paigham (1959) (Gemini Studios), and Raj Kapoor's Jagte Raho (1956).
In 1965, he also acted in the Bhojpuri film Solaho Singar Kare Dulhaniya.
Perhaps the role for which he received the most critical appreciation was that of the gentleman crook in S. S. Vasan's adaptation of R K Narayan's book Mr Sampat (1952). He is most remembered for his role as "Chunni Babu" in Bimal Roy's Devdas (1955), for which he won his first Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Actor Naseeruddin Shah once described him as one of three all-time best actors of Hindi cinema, others being Balraj Sahni and Yakub.
Personal life Motilal was very suave and polished, and moved in high society, though towards the end of his life he was in financial difficulty. Although a thorough gentleman, he enjoyed gambling and races, and died almost penniless in 1965.
He was in a relationship for several years with the actress Nadira. He was later involved with actress Shobhna Samarth after she separated from her husband, and he played Samarth's real-life daughter Nutan's father in Hamari Beti, Shobhana's launch movie for Nutan. He also played her guardian in Anari, though this time the role had a villainous touch to it.
Tribute Amitabh Bachchan wrote in the foreword of The Hundred Luminaries of Hindi Cinema: "Not much has been written in praise of a great and very natural actor. He (Motilal) was greatly ahead of his times. Were he alive today his sheer versatility would have ensured a place for him even now. In fact, he would be doing much better than many of us."
Partial Filmography Year Film RoleNotes 1934 Shaher Ka JadooDebut film Vatan Parasta1935Do Ghadi Ki MaujDr. MadhurikaNarendraSilver King1936DilawarDo DiwaneJeevan LataLagna Bandhan1937Captain Kirti KumarJagirdarRameshKokilaKulvadhu1938Hum Tum Aur WohMotiTeen Sau Din Ke BaadSudhir1939Aap Ki MarziSumantSach Hai1940AchhutRamuHoliChand1941PardesiSasural1942ArmaanKunwar1943Aage KadamTaqdeerBabu alias PappuTasveer1944DostMujrimRaunaqUmang1945MoortiPehli NazarBisvi Sadi1946Phoolwari1947Do Dil1948Aaj Ki RaatGajreMohanMunna1949Ek Thi LarkiRanjeetLekh1950Hamari BetiHanste AansooKumarFirst Indian film to be awarded an "Only Adults (A)" Certification1952Apni IzzatMr. SampatSampat1953DhoonEk Do TeenMotilalPaheli Shaadi1954MastanaMastana1955DevdasChunnilal1956Jagte RahoUnnamed Drunk Husband1957Ab Dilli Dur NahinHariram1959AnariRamnath SohanlalPaighamSewakram1960ParakhJagadish Chandra Roy alias HaradhanZameen Ke TareDhannu1962Asli-NaqliColonel Mishra1963Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar KeAli Khan1964Ji Chahta HaiLeaderAcharya1965WaqtPublic ProsecutorSolaho Singaar Kare DulhaniyaBhojpuri filmChhoti Chhoti BaatenMotilalOnly film as producer, director and writer; last film1966Yeh Zindagi Kitni Haseen HaiJolkarLast released film
References
External links
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/A-trip-down-memory-lane-with-actor-Motilal/articleshow/47697183.cms