Pradeep Kumar

Pradeep Kumar (Pradeep Batabyal) was born in early 1925 in West Bengal. When he was 17 years old, he decided to take up acting. His first film was a Bengali film Alaknanda (1947) by renowned filmmaker Debaki Bose. Pradeep Kumar then shifted to Bombay and Filmistan studios, and had a role in the Prithviraj Kapoor, Geeta Bali film Anand Math. He played the lead with Bina Rai in Anarkali and Vyjayanthimala in Nagin. Both films were very popular and had songs that added to the movies success. He had a spate of releases in the second half of the 1950s. He did not enjoy as much success in the 1960s, though he had some success with Ghunghat (1960) , Taj Mahal (1963) and Aarti.

He did not get roles with the newer heroines of the 1960s like Sadhana, Saira Banu, Babita or Sharmila Tagore. In 1969 he moved to character roles with Sambandh, but did not have many visible roles till Razia Sultan in 1983.

Pradeep Kumar died in Calcutta on October 28, 2001, at the age of 76.

HIS MOVIES WITH THE SUPER STAR RAJESH KHANNA :

1) Mehboob Ki Mehandi - 1971
2) Oonche Log - 1985