P. L. Raj

P. L. Raj Biography

P. L. Raj was a leading choreographer of Bollywood during 1960’s and 1970’s and has done more than 1000 Bollywood films. Perhaps his most popular choreographed song is Yahoo, pictured on Shammi Kapoor and Saira Banu, which itself emerged as a trendsetter of Bollywood and made Shammi an overnight star. His beautiful choreographed songs are included in many of Shammi Kapoor, Helen and Amitabh Bachchan songs. His memorable works include - Junglee (1961), Professor (1962), Teesri Manzil (1966), Intaquam (1969), Sholay (1975), and Don (1978). Apart from Bollywood, he has also choreographed songs of Telugu, Bengali, Marathi and Punjabi. His son, Leslie Lewis is a famous pop artist and composer and better known as Colonial cousin, aside singer Hariharan.

Raj was born on August 10, 1934 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. His birth name was Devraj Peter Lewis, which he later changed when entered cinema. He was brought up in Bangalore. He ran away to Mumbai to pursue a career in Bollywood. He learnt dance steps from Surya Kumar and Krishan Kumar and later from Azoorie, Satyanarayan, Bapriprasad and many others. Raj began his career in Bollywood in early 50s. It was a time when western tunes had just entered Bollywood. Initially he worked as background dancer in films and later worked as assistant of choreographer Krishna Kumar. One notable works during this period was Mera naam chum chum – pictured on dancing queen Helen. His first break as independent choreographer was Love Marriage (1959). Later he became one of the most wanted choreographers of B’town. He gave new dimensions to Cabaret in Indian film dance sequences.

He played significant role in the career of Helen. He taught her Kathak and bharatnatyam as well. His popular dance sequences on Helen include – Yeh mera dil of Don, Is duniya mein of Gumnaam, O hasseena of Teesri manzil, Mehbooba of Sholay, Aa jaane jaa of Intaquam and Mungda of Inkaar. Other big films include – Sargam, Ek duje ke liye, Shagird, Budameez, Muquaddar ka sikander and Saagar. 

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Updated: January 18, 2014