Prayag Raj (1935–2003) was an Indian writer, director and actor. He worked in many popular Bollywood films including Gair Kanoon (1989), Coolie (1983) and Ponga Pandit (1975). Apart from acting, he also did direction, singing and songwriting. He died on 23 September 2023 at his Bandra residence due to age-related illness.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Prayag Raj Sharma was born in 1935 (age 88 years at death) in Allahabad, United Province, British India (now Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India). Prayag’s father died when he was very young, after which he came to Mumbai. He did his schooling in Mumbai only. While he was in school, he started working as a child actor in plays at Prithvi Theatre. He was nine years old at that time and took up a job to help his family financially. He worked in theater for sixteen years and wrote and directed several plays.
Family
parents and siblings
Prayag’s father’s name is Ram Das Azad. He was a popular poet. Prayag died when he was very young.
wife and children
Prayag was married to writer Pushpa Raj, who died in 2008. His wife’s real name was Rabia Khatoon. They have two sons, Aditya Raj, who works as an assistant director, and Rahul Raj, who is a dubbing artiste.
livelihood
Author
Prayag made his debut as a writer with the 1963 film Phool Bane Angare, for which he wrote the dialogues.
He worked as a writer in more than 100 films. He worked on the script of the film Zuari (1968). The same year, he wrote additional dialogues for the film Jhook Gaya Aasmaan. He began working with producing duo Ismail Merchant and James Ivory. The first film she worked on with him was The Householder in 1963. He wrote the dialogues for the Hindi version of the film. He worked with him on the script of the film Shakespeare-Wala in 1965.
He worked with both of them for a long time in films like In Custody (1994) and Cotton Mary (1999). He wrote scripts for films including Bhai Ho To Aisa (1972), Roti (1974), Parvarish (1977), Desh Premi (1982) and Allah-Rakha (1986), among others. 
Director and Assistant Director
In 1965, he worked as an assistant director in the film Jab Jab Phool Khile. In 1972, he entered the field of direction with the film ‘Kundan’. The film did not get much recognition, but Prayag said in an interview that the film earned three times more profit than the amount invested.
His most famous directorial debut was the 1983 film Coolie.
Prayag Raj (centre) with Amitabh Bachchan during the shooting of the film ‘Coolie’
Some of the other films he directed include Paap Aur Punya (1974), Ponga Pandit (1975), Chor Sipahi (1977), Hifazat (1987), Gair Kaali (1989), and Oonchi Neech Beech (1989).
He was the second unit director on the film Cotton Mary (1999).
actor
Prayag started his acting career in 1948 as a child artist in the film Aag.
In 1951 he appeared in the film Awara. He played small roles in several films including Professor (1962), The Guru (1969), Sachcha Jhootha (1970), My Love (1970), Bombay Talkie (1970) and Pratiksha (1993).
singer
In the film Shakespeare-Valhalla (1965), he composed and wrote a song, ‘Dil Dhadke.’ He received special credit on the album for the song. He sang the refrain in other songs, including Yahoo! For the film Junglee (1961), Affu Khuda song for the film Affo Khuda Hum Ko Tum Pe Pyar Aaya, for the film Jab Jab Phool Khile (1965), Accident Ho Gaya (Alla Rakh) for the film Coolie (1983).
He composed the tunes used in the Prithvi Theater plays of the 1940s and recorded them on a CD. He recreated the notation and intervals of the tunes. The title of the CD was Memorable Songs from Prithvi Theater Plays.
Death
Prayag died on 23 September 2023 at his Bandra residence after suffering from heart disease and age-related problems for a long time. His last rites were performed at Shivaji Park cremation ground in Dadar. After the news of his demise came out, actors Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor and Shabana Azmi expressed their condolences on social media. Anil Kapoor took to X and shared a picture with Prayag from the sets of the film Hifazat and wrote,
I am truly saddened by the demise of late Prayag Raj. It was a privilege to work with him in ‘Hifaazat’. May his soul rest in peace.”
I am truly saddened by the demise of late Prayag Raj. It was a privilege to work with him in “Hifaazat”. May his soul rest in peace.🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/Al4RP7poFb
– Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) 24 September 2023
Facts/General Knowledge
- While he was working at Prithvi Theatre, he became close friends with actor Shashi Kapoor, who was of the same age as Prayag.
- Prayag used to play important roles in different plays on screen. He was also a backup actor for Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor, who worked in the same theatre. After practicing plays during the day, he used to take additional training from filmmakers M. Sadiq and Lekh Tandon in the evening.
- After working in several films, he decided to write films as he was more interested in writing and filmmaking. He got his first chance to work as a writer in a project with Lekh Tandon and Shammi Kapoor, but the film was never released.
- In an interview, while discussing his passion for singing, he mentioned that he initially wanted to pursue a career in playback singing, but when he realized that he would have to face a lot of difficulties in the industry, he quit it. decided to.
- His last film as an additional screenwriter was the 1997 film Deewana Mastana.
- Prayag wrote the film Zamanat: And Justice for All which was released in 2021. The film was written in 1996; However, it was released after a decade due to financial problems in the production.
- His name has also been written as Prayag Raj Sharma.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn