Gajanan Jagirdar

Gajanan Jagirdar Biography

Gajanan Jagirdar was a popular character artist associated with Bollywood known for playing senior actor roles of father, grandfather, professor etc. This veteran actor was also associated with Marathi cinema, and played lead roles in early Bollywood talkies. Apart from being a noted actor in Bollywood, he has written and directed several Bollywood movies in the 1930s and 1940s during early talkies, in association with Prabhat Films. He acted in a few movies as well. He completely switched on to his acting career as a character artist in the 1950s. This veteran artist died on 13 August 1988. He was fully active in the industry till his death at the age of 81.

He was born on 2 April 1907 in Amravati, Maharashtra. He worked as a theater artist during his childhood days. He started as a freelancer in the industry, in the film studios of Prabhat Films and Minerva Movietone. In 1932, he made his acting debut through Jalti Nishani and since then, in a career spanning to more than 55 years, he has been a part of several iconic movies of Bollywood. His debut as an actor in Jalti Nishani was just accidental. When actor DD Mane was not able to deliver the Urdu dialogues during filming, its director the legendary V. Shantaram handpicked him as the actor’s substitute. He enacted the part of a 75-year-old man at the age of only 25.

Later he worked with Prabhat studios and Minerva Movietone as a film actor, director as well as screenwriter. He worked as a screenwriter of Minerva Movietone’s Meetha Zahar (1938) and Divorce (1938). Chhoo Mantar (1956), Paying Guest (1957), Hum Dono (1961), Guide (1965), Ittefaq (1969), Aa Lag Jaa Gale (1973), Des Pardes (1978) and Umrao Jaan (1981) are some of his memorable roles. He played the brief but significant role of the professor doctor in Aa Lag Jaa Gale. Behram Khan and Vasantasena are some of his directorial ventures in the 1940s, where he played lead role. He directed Raj Kapoor in Jail Yatra released in 1947.

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Updated: December 17, 2017