Bharat Bhushan – ‘Baiju Bawra’ of Hindi cinema

Bharat Bhushan (1920 – 1992) was one of the top stars of Bollywood cinema in the era of 1950s. He shot to instant fame after playing the titular role in the iconic musical, ‘Baiju Bawra’ released in 1952. He was also a producer who produced and played lead roles in Basant Bahar and Barsaat Ki Raat. He played mythological and historic roles on screen with ease, and was equally successful with other popular lead roles. He was the recipient of second Filmfare Best Actor Award for his titular role in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and was also nominated for his titular role in Mirza Galib. Though he remained one of the top stars of his time, his last days were spent in extreme poverty with no money for treatment – one of the worst and pathetic riches-to-rags tales in Bollywood ever.

Bharat Bhushan was a native of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. His father was a reputed lawyer who wanted his son to follow his legacy. Against his father’s wishes he pursued a career in the field of acting. He lost his mother at the age of two, and he along with his siblings grew up at the home of maternal grandfather, where they completed their studies. He completed his graduation and moved to Kolkata in search of acting opportunities. Then he moved to Mumbai, where he established as an actor.

Chitralekha (1941) marked his screen debut in a supporting role

Bharat Bhushan was given the first break to films by Kidar Sharma through his hit film, Chitralekha. He played a character role in the film. For nearly one decade he struggled in the industry with character roles. As a lead actor Suhaag Raat opposite Geeta Bali released in 1948 was his first hit. Kidar Sharma signed him for the movie.

Baiju Bawra (1952) gave him stardom, alongside Meena Kumari, Naushad and Mohammed Rafi, and all of them were benefitted by film’s super success. From there on he only played lead roles on screen till early 1960s. He scripted and produced hit films – Basant Bahar and Barsaat Ki Raat, and also played lead roles in them. The success of the films made him very rich. Anand Math, Mirza Galib, Jahan Ara, Phagun etc are some of his memorable works in lead role.

His decision to produce more movies back fired him

When his brother Ramesh asked Bhushan to launch his son through one of his production ventures, he agreed. However the movie flopped miserably. He went on to produce movies one after another to cover his financial losses. But every time he went wrong, and he lost everything he earned from Bollywood, even friends! He owned many luxurious and imported cars and two bungalows – one in Mumbai and other in Pune, which he had to sell to make a living. After 1964 his life faced turmoil with unexpected twists and turns, and he was in great shock for next 5 years.

Pyar Ka Mausam – His most popular character role

By mid-1960s, with the emergence of new romantic heroes, he started accepting supporting roles. A few of them got noticed, while majority of them couldn’t propel his career. To make his ends meet, the star of the glorious era even accepted minor artist roles. As a supporting actor, his role as Shashi Kapoor’s father in 1969 film, Pyar Ka Mausam got noticed. This powerful role was offered to him by the director Nasir Hussain during his bad times when he was fully heartbroken. Kishore Kumar’s version of ‘Tum Bin Jaon Kahan’ was filmed on him, while Rafi sang for Shashi Kapoor. It was for the first time a single song was recorded separately in the voices of Rafi and Kishore, and as it was the same time when Kishore Kumar’s popularity increased manifold, people started comparing two versions.  Comparisons are still made whose version was better.

He continued doing small roles till early 1990s, and was active in the industry for long 5 decades till his death. He was seen in Yaarana, Umrao Jaan, Nastik, Khoon Pasina, Chandni, Toofan, Pyar Ka Devata, Ghar Sansaar etc in the 1980s and early 1990s. He did several less-significant roles towards the end of his career for financial assistance. It is also said that he had gambling addiction. He spent his last years in a chawl.

Bharat Bhushan – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He was one of the early stars of Hindi cinema, alongside Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand, and his name is counted among the greatest stars of golden era of Bollywood. He was one of the earliest chocolate young heroes of Bollywood silver screen.

2. His father disliked films and he put restrictions at home not to watch movies. He was one punished to watch movie from theatre without the knowledge of his father.

3. It’s a less known fact that he even dreamt to become a Hindustani vocalist at one point of time. Interestingly he played musician several times on celluloid.

4. He played tragic singer, musician or poet in many movies which brought him success. He played many real life  and mythological characters, an integral part of Indian culture on screen. Kalidas, Tansen, Angulimal, Kabir, Baiju Bawra and Mirza Ghalib are among the roles he played.

5. 60 rupees a month was his first monthly salary in the field of acting in Bollywood, when he initially worked in Kolkata.

6. English alphabet ‘B’ proved to be lucky for him right from ‘Baiju Bawra’ days. A few more hit films in the series include – Basant Bahar, Barsaat Ki Raat etc.

7. Actress and anchor Tabassum played the childhood role of Meena Kumari in Bharat Bhushan’s biggest hit, Baiju Bawra.

8. His elder brother Ramesh Chandra was a film producer who owned the film studio, Ideal Studio.

9. He was first married to Sarla, a daughter of a zaminder and had two daughters. After the death of his wife following delivery complications, he remarried a minor actress Ratna in 1967, with whom he worked in Barsat Ki Raat. In fact he lost his first wife soon after the release of his own hit production, Barsat Ki Raat.

10. One of his daughters had polio related complications.

11. Mohammed Rafi established as the leading male playback voice of Bollywood after singing for Bharat Bhushan in Baiju Bawra in 1952. He stayed at number one position for at almost two decades after that. Naushad gave Rafi his first major break.

12. He planned to produce a movie with Manoj Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in the 1960s, but it never happened.

13. Though he led a luxurious life in the decade of 1950s and early 1960s, he lost everything and his last few years were spent alone, without any friends from film circle in extreme poverty. He also found it difficult to pay his hospital bills and died alone.

14. He was an avid reader and had a huge collection of books. When he lost everything, he was forced to sell his books and library as well, which hurt him the most.

15. There was a time when he owned multiple luxurious cars which he used to travel in the city of Mumbai. During his later years, he was also seen at bus stop just like an ordinary man waiting in long queues for buses. It was the greed of his elder brother which ruined his everything!

16. Once he was offered a less significant role of an extra in a movie by a well-known filmmaker. He accepted the role only to provide himself one-time meals. That was the pathetic condition of the great actor during bad days, and none from film industry helped him.

17. In the late 1960s, his role in Pyar Ka Mausam was benefitted, especially through Kishore Kumar’s version of Tum Bin Jaon Kahan. It was a time when Kishore had just stormed into music scene through his resurgence through Aradhana hit songs. Kishore also incorporated his yodelling style for its recordings, which was loved by many.

10+ Top Bollywood songs filmed on Bharat Bhushan

1. Tum Bin Jaon Kahan from Pyar Ka Mausam

2. Ik Pardesi Mera from Phagun

3. Kaun Se Gagan Se Chale from Basant Bahar

4. Zindagi Phar Nahi from Barsaat Ki Raat

5. Man Tarpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj from Baiju Bawra

6. Tu Ganga Ki Mauj from Baiju Bawra

7. O Duniya Ke Rakhwale from Baiju Bawra

8. Jab Jab Bahar Aaye from Taqdeer

9. Phir Wohi Sham Wohi Gham from Jahan Ara

10. Aa Laut Ke Aaja Mere Meet from Rani Roopmati

Author’s note: Whenever I watch Bharat Bhushan in some movie sequence or song, I quickly remember legendary Mohammed Rafi, who shot to stardom after becoming the ghost voice of Bhushan. I often feel that the singer and actor share the same innocent and beautiful smile. In fact when I watch Bharat Bhushan before the mike in the title track of Barsat Ki Raat, I feel that both had striking face resemblance, mannerisms and smile. True or not, I don’t know. But definitely he will always remain as one of the handsome faces of Bollywood screen.