Bharat Bhushan

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Aspired to be classical singer but father kicked him out of house Bharat Bhushan was an original inhabitant of Meerut, UP. His father was a respected lawyer and was a government advocate. He was awarded the prestigious title of a Rai Bahadur. Besides he was a staunch Arya SamajI. Bharat Bhushan was a creative person and aspired to become a classical singer. After graduation from Aligarh, Bhushan joined classical music training classes to master the art but when his father came to know about his inclination in Music, he was furious as Music in those days was looked down and practiced by low status people. But when Bhushan insisted his father kicked him out of the house. Since Bhushan’s mother had expired when he was just 2 years old hence he had none to support his passion. In frustration he came to Kolkata. He was just 20 years!!

Bharat Bhushan married actress Ratna, after his first wife expired Bharat Bhushan’s first marriage was an arranged marriage. He was married to Sharadha, daughter of a famous family in Meerut, Zamindar Raibahadur Budha Prakash. But his wife died of labour complications after delivering their second child in the early 1960s. His second wife was actress Ratna, an upcoming beautiful actress. During the making of the film Barsaat Ki Raat (1960) in which Bharat Bhushan played the hero and Madhubala the heroine, Ratna had a small character actress role. It was during the shooting the two came close and fell in love. The two married in 1967.

Bharat Bhushan gets his film Bhakta Kabir After a struggle of over one and half year in Kolkata, Bharat Bhushan finally got a film Bhakta Kabir, however, Bhushan was in two mind accepting the role as he was neither religious minded nor he looked like saint Kabir. But since he was being offered a salary of Rs 60 per month he decided to give-in due for the sake of poverty. The film was released in 1942 and was a huge it. In fact government of India awarded him and film producer Silver Bricks as awards for spreading the very important message of communal harmony and brotherhood among Hindu- Muslim. Success was short lived and Bharat Bhushan was back to poverty With the immense success of Bhakta Kabir, Bharat Bhushan was immediately signed by filmmaker W.Z. Ahmed of Shalimar Pictures to play Lord Krishna. However soon Hindu –Muslim riots broke out and with partition W.Z. Ahmed went to Pakistan. The film was incomplete and the film artists and technicians were not paid. Bharat Bhushan had tough time and to survive he sold his most beloved Tanpura (Musical Instrument) and run from pillar to post hunting role in a film. Film maker Kidar Sharma gives Bharat Bhushan a new lease of life After a long struggle of over five years film legend Kidar Sharma (Who introduced actor Raj Kapoor in films) gave a new lease of life to Bharat Bhushan with his film Suhaag Raat (1948) opposite two top heroines of that era Geeta Bali and Begum Para. The musical love triangle was a jubilee hit and opened doors of many small budget films like Aankhen (1950), Maa (1952) for Bharat Bhushan. Bharat Bhushan wins his First Filmfare Award The movie that made Bharat Bhushan a star was Sohrab Modi’s Mirza Galib (1954), a musical tribute to India’s greatest poet Mirza Galib (1954). The music of the film was a huge hit and the movie celebrated Golden Jubilee (50 week run). After this came another big hit Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1955) a biographical tale of the great saint Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The highlight of this film was that the movie was not only a box office bonanza but fetched Bharat Bhushan his First Filmfare award. After this film Bharat Bhushan became stereotyped in the roles of mythological and historical legends films like Kavi Kalidas (1959), Samrat Chandragupt (1958), Angulimaal (1960), Sangeet Samrat Tansen (1962) etc. He minted huge money. Bharat Bhushan turns Producer Besides mythological and historical films Bharat Bhushan did many social films like Champakali (1957), Gateway of India (1958), Phagun (1958), Sohni Mahiwal (1958), Ghunghat (1960) and the money he earned he poured into film production. He produced films like Minar, Basant Bahar, Barsaat Ki Raat and Dooj Ka Chand. But film production killed him as he had sell two bungalows, one in Bombay and the other in Pune. Sell his expensive cars like Chevrolet, Belair and Austin and leave all his luxuries and move out and live in rented houses! Bharat Bhushan died in penury After losing huge amount as producer Bharat Bhushan faced bitter phase in his last days. He was reduced to doing miniscule roles and at times he even did an extra role to survive. He tried his luck in TV serials and B-grade mythological movie and a time came when he was forced to take a job of a watchman in a film studio! A pitiable death His death was a real pity. It is said once in the early 90’s he was walking down the road at Borivali (Mumbai) in the summer afternoon when he suddenly collapsed on the road due to acute weakness and hunger. Fortunately a pedestrian recognized him as an actor of 50’s. He immediately hired an auto rickshaw and took him to nearby Municipal hospital where he died unsung. The actor who was a star and resided in bungalows and moved in posh cars died in a civic hospital in penury with nobody to shed tears!!!