Perhaps best remembered as Ramlal in the classic
Sholay (1975), or Amitabh Bachchan’s father in
Deewaar (1975),
Satyen Kappu was one of the most beloved character actors of the Hindi film screen. Few know that he was a stage actor whose first play, Nayi Manzil, ran into trouble since the theatre had not been paid for. As a member of the Indian People’s Theatre Association, he played a doodh-wala in a production. His performance caught the eye of the great
Bimal Roy, and he went on to cast him in a number of his films like
Naukri (1954),
Kabuliwala (1961) and
Bandini (1963). The director’s death, however, sent Kappu back to theatre for a few years, until he was rediscovered by
Narendra Bedi and cast in
Jawani Diwani (1971), re-starting his flagging career. Join Gautam Chintamani in the Cinemaazi Studio as he takes a look at the ups and downs of the career of one of the hidden gems of Hindi cinema.