Mangal Dhillon

Mangal Dhillon is a renowned Indian actor, who also belongs to the field of writing, directing and producing films. He was born on 18 June 1974 in a remote village in Punjab, India. He completed his schooling from Nighasan, Lakhimpur Kheri (Uttar Pradesh). After his graduation from the Government College in Muktsar, he pursued theater as a Post-Graduation Diploma Course at Punjab University, Chandigarh. Dhillon made theater his first love from the year 1978 to 1987 and performed plays in Delhi, Mumbai and Punjab.

From 1982 onwards, he had started being seen on the small screen. However, it was in 1988 when he got his first major break in the television industry with Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Buniyaad’, which revolved around the horrors of the India-Pakistan partition. In 1988, he made his debut in Bollywood with Rajeev Mehra’s ‘Aakhri Adalat.’ He is best known for his work in ‘Khoon Bhari Maang’ (Rakesh Roshan’s adaptation of the Australian series titled ‘Return to Eden’), ‘Janasheen’ (Feroz Khan’s drama film starring Fardin Khan and Celina Jaitley), and ‘Khalnayak’ (Subhash Ghai’s Blockbuster thriller starring Sanjay Dutt).

As a writer, Mangal has written a variety of plays, and has also been a writer for some films, documentaries, and television serials. His most known work as a writer has been for the one-act play titled ‘Theatrewala Urf Pagal Hai’. The amalgamation of his skills as a writer, director, and producer came to life when he, along with his wife, the famous artist, Ritu Dhillon, set up a production house by the name ‘Mangal Dhillon and Company.’ The company succeeded in making ‘Khalsa,’ a historical feature film in Punjabi.

The film won him the Baba Farid Award, bestowed upon him by the Punjab Government. Apart from ‘Khalsa,’ he uplifted Sikhism in a few other films like ‘A Day at the Golden Temple’ and ‘The Greatness of Sikhism.’ He is currently known to be working on two books entitled ‘Kujh Saddaran Ate Chand Haunke’ and ‘The Dark World of The Ghosts’. In his early career, Mangal was awarded the Radio and Television Advertising Practitioners' Association (RAPA) award for his work in ‘Junoon’, a television serial telecasted on Doordarshan in 1998. He has also got recognition from Punjab’s Chief Minister in 2006 for his contributions and achievements.

Interestingly, he has also written poetry and will soon come out with a published book titled ‘Be-Tarteeb Jazbaat,’ which literally means scattered emotions.