Jeevan (actor)

Early life

Jeevan was born into large family, he had 24 siblings. His grandfather was the Governor of Gilgit in Gilgit-Baltistan. He lost his father when he was 3 years old and his mother died at childbirth.

Career

From an early age, Jeevan wanted to be an actor as films had always fascinated him. Since his grandfather was the Governor, their family was considered among the nobility. As s son of such a family joining films would not have been accepted as films were considered taboo, Jeevan ran away from home at the age of 18 and came to Bombay with only Rs. 26 in his pocket.

After a brief period of struggle, he eventually landed himself a job in the studios of Mohan Sinha (Vidya Sinha’s grandfather). His job was to stick silver paper on the reflectors. It was here while working as a reflector boy that he landed a lead role in the movie Fashionable India which was being made by Mohan Sinha.

It is said that he has played the role Narad Muni in more than 60 films and theater shows of different languages. He became notable though for his roles in Romantic India in 1935, Afasana in 1946 and Station Master in 1942. Jeevan featured in numerous films starring Dev Anand from 1946 to 1978 and played villainous roles in Manmohan Desai's movies, including "Amar Akbar Anthony" and "Dharam Veer." He also appeared in the Punjabi film "Teri Meri Ek Jindri." His final film role was in "Insaaf Ki Manzil," which was released in 1986, produced by Ram Nandan Prasad and directed by Braj Bhushan. He passed away on June 10, 1987, at the age of 71.