Chandrashekhar (actor)

Chandrashekhar (actor) Biography

Chandrashekhar is a veteran Bollywood actor, best remembered for films like Cha Cha Cha, Baradari and Kali Topi Lal Rumal, released in the 1950s. Now aged 90+, he has retired from film scene. His son Ashok Shekhar is also a veteran film and television personality for the past four decades. Noted film and television actor Shakti Arora is his grandson (son of his daughter). He acted in around 112 films since early 1950s. Aurat Teri Yehi Kahani was one of his early movies and he played lead role in legendary actor-director V. Shantaram’s Surang (1953). 1964 musical Cha Cha Cha is remembered as his directorial venture, where he played lead role opposite Helen. He turned a producer/director with this film.

One of the leading actors of 1950s, he played lead role in Kali Topi Lal Rumal, Baradari, Street Singer, Rustem-e-Bughdaad, Surang etc. Surang was his first break as lead hero. He played lead role in about 35 films. He played villain role in Basant Bahar. Since 1960s with the rise of new stars of Bollywood he moved to character roles. Barsat Ki Ek Raat, Kati Patang, Shakti, Vardaan, Ajnabee, Sharabi etc are some of his character roles. He was last seen in year 2000 Sanjay Dutt film – Khauff.

He was born in Hyderabad in 1923. His childhood and teens were spent in his hometown itself. His father Gauri Shanker Vaidya was a well-known Ayurvedic doctor. He did his entire education in Urdu-Farsi. In the 1930s in his teens, Shankar of famed music director duo Shankar-Jaikishen was his friend, and they frequently used to play wrestling in teens. Though he decided to join Telugu film industry, as his Telugu language was bad someone suggested him to go to Mumbai. That’s how he reached Mumbai.

He came to Mumbai in the year 1941. He started his career as an ‘extra’ and earned one and a half rupee per day as salary. Later he was promoted to get 8 rupees a day. Once he sang a chorus with legendary singer Shamshad Begam, who helped him to get a job at Shalimar Studio at a monthly salary of 600 rupees. It happened in 1945. He played side hero aside Bharat Bhushan for the movie, Ranjila Rajasthan. Since then he got permanently associated with Bollywood as an actor.   

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Updated: March 20, 2016