A. K. Hangal
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| A. K. Hangal | |
|---|---|
| Born | Avtar Kishan Hangal 1917 Sialkot, Punjab |
| Other name(s) | Padmabhushan Avtar Krishna Hangal |
| Years active | 1966-present |
A.K. Hangal (born 1917, Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan) or Avtar Kishan Hangal is a well known character actor of Indian Hindi films.
A tailor by profession, he was an active participant in the Indian freedom struggle. His childhood spent in Peshawar, where he had performed in theatre for some major roles. However his primary occupation for the early part of his life was that of a tailor. Following his father's retirement, the family shifted from Peshawar to Karachi. He moved to Bombay after the Partition of India in 1949 after a 3 year prison in Pakistan. He was involved with the theatre group IPTA along with Balraj Sahni and Kaifi Azmi, both of whom had Marxist leanings.
He started his Hindi film career at the very late age of 49 with Basu Bhattacharya's Teesri Kasam in 1966, and went on to play the quintessential meek and oppressed old man in innumerable Hindi movies. His own favourites are the roles he played in Sholay and Shaukeen. In movies he has played a very large number of character roles, mostly positive. He has acted in more than 125 films so far.
Hangal lives in Santa Cruz, in Mumbai, India.
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[edit] Awards
The Government of India awarded him the prestigious Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Hindi Cinema in 2006.
[edit] Controversy
In 1993 he had applied for a visa to visit his birthplace in Pakistan, and the embassy invited him to Pakistan day celebration. Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray took offence and there was a talk of a boycott and having his scenes removed from films. Bal Thackeray clarified a year later that he had not asked for a boycott and roles started coming back to Hangal.
[edit] Family
He has a son, and after the death of his wife, he lives alone in his flat in Santa Cruz, Mumbai. His son Vijay has been a still photographer in Bollywood.
[edit] External links
- A.K. Hangal at the Internet Movie Database
- V Gangadhar. The genial revolutionary. Rediff.com.
- Marxist who made it good in movies
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