Colin Pal

Colin Pal Biography

Colin Pal was a film actor and technician associated with Bollywood yesterdays. He was a journalist and publisher too, who has been associated with around 175 Hindi movies. He is the son of film producer Niranjan Pal - a playwright, screenwriter and director of the silent era, and the grandson of Bipin Chandra Pal – a nationalist, a freedom fighter and social reformer. His son, Deep Pal was a pioneer of Steadicam camerawork in India, and known for his association with some of the leading filmmakers of Indian film industry.

Colin Pal was born on 25 December 1923. As his father was associated with films as a filmmaker and screenwriter, Colin too joined the same stream, following the footsteps of his father. His son Deep Pal too is associated with cine world. Colin was born in London in 1923. His mother is an English lady, Lily Bell. He spent his early years in Wembley before moving to Mumbai in 1929. For a short period, he worked with his father at Bombay Talkies. Then he joined Filmistan Studios in 1943 as an apprentice, and worked as an assistant under filmmaker P. L. Santoshi.

Since late 1940s, he made brief appearances in a few movies. Yet he fully concentrated on to technical side later. He spent most of his career as a publicist for mainstream Hindi films, and also wrote for trade magazines. He used to collaborate with film historians as a part of his job. He authored the book Shooting Stars, and also revived and re-published his father’s autobiography work, Aye Jibon: Such is life. He died in Mumbai on 28 August 2005 after prolonged illness.

Published: N/A

Updated: June 16, 2018