Prem Chopra is a legend of Hindi cinema and he has acted in over 400 films. Prem Chopra has been in Bollywood since its inception. He has a long spanning film career of over 50 years. He has not only acted in Hindi films, but also in several Punjabi films. He has made a great contribution to Hindi films and has made a special place for himself in the hearts of many Indians.Â
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Born on 23rd September 1935, Prem Chopra hails from a Punjabi family. He was born in Lahore. Prem holds a degree from Punjab University. Since his childhood, Prem was interested in histrionics and involved himself vigorously in college dramatics. Prem had special liking towards his sister Anju and treated her like his daughter.Â
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Prem’s parents didn’t want him to take up a career in acting, but the latter followed his heart and came to Mumbai. He used to live in several guest houses initially. He showed his portfolio to several studios but the result was not welcoming. During his tenure in Times of India, Prem was required to travel 20 days in a month. He used this time wisely in speaking to agents and once a stranger inquired him whether he was interested in acting. This meeting was a turning point in Prem’s life. He entered into film industry thereafter. Choudhary Karnail Singh is the film in which Prem got the much needed break in his career. The film was a commercial success and also gained National Award.Â
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Prem played a positive role in the movie Shaheed (since Prem used to play only negative roles in most of his films). His brilliance in acting negative roles was such that the audience started to dislike him. Do Anjaane, Kati Patang, Bewaffa Se Waffa, Phool Bane Angaarey were some of the films in which he donned negative roles with ease.Â
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A contradiction in Prem’s roles is that he is softly spoken in films despite taking up negative roles. He also mesmerized the international audiences by working on stage shows. He has worked with
Rajesh Khanna
in 19 films and out of the 19, 15 were commercially successful. Of late, his stellar performances in Rocket Singh-Salesman of the year and Delhi 6 were very much appreciated. He did only character roles in these films. Prem Chopra has several awards to his credit.
Malhotra Family Tree (Infographic Family Tree)