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2026-04-02T09:49:35Z

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{{short description|Indian film actor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hiralal
| image =
| birth_name = Hiralal Thakur
| birth_date = 14 March<ref name="cjadoo" /> {{birth based on age as of date|19|1929|11|29|noage=1}}<ref name="ie" />
| birth_place = [[Lahore]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]]<br />(in present-day Pakistan)
| death_date = {{death date|1981|6|27|df=yes}}<ref name="death" />
| death_place =
| other_names = Hira Lal, Heeralal
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1928–1981
| spouse = {{marriage|Darparani|1945}}
| children = 6, including [[Inder Thakur]]
}}

'''Hiralal Thakur''' (14 March 1909/1910 – 27 June 1981), known [[Mononymous person|mononymously]] as '''Hiralal''', was an Indian actor known for his work in [[Hindi films]]. Known for his performances as a [[character actor]],<ref name="tribune">{{cite web |last1=Dass |first1=Janki |authorlink1=Jankidas |title=What a way to take the last bow |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000514/spectrum/main3.htm |work=The Tribune |accessdate=27 August 2020 |date=14 May 2000}}</ref> he was called the 'bad man of the Indian screen' for his portrayal of roles with negative shades. He made his debut with the silent film ''[[Safdar Jung (film)|Safdar Jung]]'' (1930).<ref name="ie">{{cite news |title=From politics to filmdom |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=3 October 1965 |pages=6}}</ref>

Hiralal also took part in India's [[Indian independence movement|independence movement]] and became an activist with the [[Indian National Congress]] when he was 14. He was later associated with the group of political and social workers that included [[Lala Lajpat Rai]] and [[Bhagat Singh]], before moving into a career in films in 1928.<ref name="ie" /> After a distinguished career in films for over fifty years which included at least 150 films,<ref name="tabassum" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Bollywood Movie Actor Hiralal Biography |url=http://www.nettv4u.com/celebrity/hindi/movie-actor/hiralal |website=nettv4u |accessdate=27 August 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717061733/http://www.nettv4u.com/celebrity/hindi/movie-actor/hiralal |archivedate=17 July 2017 |language=en}}</ref> he died penniless in 1981.<ref name="tribune" /><ref name="death">{{cite book |title=Mass Media in India |year=1981 |publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India |pages=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQvlAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=27 August 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

== Career ==
Hiralal took to acting in films "as a hobby" after being asked by filmmaker [[Abdur Rashid Kardar]], who was making ''[[Safdar Jung (film)|Safdar Jung]]'' in [[Lahore]], to play the role of a [[Pathan]].<ref name="memroles">{{cite web |title=Hiralal – My Memorable Roles |url=http://cineplot.com/hiralal-my-memorable-roles/ |website=Cineplot.com |accessdate=28 August 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504051040/http://cineplot.com/hiralal-my-memorable-roles/ |archivedate=4 May 2017}}</ref> Filming of ''Safdar Jung'' had begun in 1924 and Hiralal joined in 1929. He then appeared in another silent film, ''[[Daughters of Today (1928 film)|Daughters of Today]]'', which saw theatrical release first.<ref name="cjadoo">{{cite web |last1=Barnum |first1=Mike |title=Hiralal |url=https://cinemajadoo.wordpress.com/2018/06/16/hiralal/ |website=Cinema Jadoo |accessdate=28 August 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828061915/https://cinemajadoo.wordpress.com/2018/06/16/hiralal/ |archivedate=28 August 2020 |language=en |date=16 June 2018}}</ref><ref name="profile">{{cite web |title=Hiralal – Profile & Filmography |url=http://cineplot.com/hiralal-profile-filmography/ |website=Cineplot.com |accessdate=28 August 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220083919/http://cineplot.com/hiralal-profile-filmography/ |archivedate=20 December 2016}}</ref> Hiralal recalled having a "thirst for authenticity" early on in his career, citing an example of him going bald to play a "one-eyed bald-headed man" in his next film, the 1931 film ''Awara Raqasa'' ("Wandering Dancer"), also directed by Kardar.<ref name="memroles" /> He switched to [[sound films]], later making his debut with ''Pavitra Ganga'' (1932) in which he played a "mad monk" as one character. He appeared in [[dual roles]] in the film, both as the protagonist and antagonist, opposite Nalini Tarkhad.<ref name="ie" /> His performance in ''Din-o-Duniya'' (1936) as General Mohammad Tariq received praise.<ref name="memroles" />

Hiralal then moved to [[Calcutta]] (now Kolkata) and became associated with the [[New Theatres]] film studio. It was here under the "able guidance" of filmmaker [[Hemachandra Chunder]] that he felt he had become "a real actor". He appeared in ''[[Mera Punjab]]'' (1940), an adaptation of [[Pearl S. Buck]]'s ''[[The Good Earth]]'', in which he played three stages of a man's life: "the young man, the father and the grandfather". He then appeared in ''Sipahi'' (1941), playing "a soldier who fights for his country (in [[World War I]]) and then under the economic depression that follows is unable to find a job. On the verge of starvation, he becomes a gangster and at the end is shot in an encounter with his pursuers." He called the final sequence in the film in which the soldier-turned-gangster is cornered by six or seven men and is shot "the most moving scene" he had ever played. Hiralal recollected in an interview in the 1960s that it was with his role in ''Faisla'' (1947) opposite [[Kanan Devi]] that he was "able to form a certain concept of villainy which served me well later when I began to play the villain in most of my pictures." In Chunder's ''Teen Bhai'' (1955), he "played a villain" opposite [[Pahari Sanyal]], [[Nazir Hussain]] and [[Bharat Bhushan]]'s characters. Hiralal's association with the New Theatres, however, ended in 1949, when he moved to [[Bombay]] (now Mumbai).<ref name="memroles" /><ref name="ie" />

In Bombay, his first film ''Badal'' (1951), in which he played a " villainous [[sardar]] whose greed for money is his undoing", was received well. In [[Kishore Sahu]]'s ''Sapna'' (1952), he played an [[outlaw]] who kidnaps the heroine played by [[Bina Rai]]. In [[K. Amarnath]]'s ''Mehbooba'' (1954), he played a [[dacoit]]. In [[G. P. Sippy]]'s ''Chandrakanta'' (1956), he played "a mad conqueror who wanted his people to worship him as a living God." Hiralal studied the lives of [[Nero]] and a few [[Egyptian Pharaohs]] in preparation for the role. He starred in ''[[Leader (1964 film)|Leader]]'' (1964) as a "fanatic killer who is out to exterminate a famous man."<ref name="memroles" />

Hiralal rated his performance in the 1948 film ''Jhoothi Kasmein'' his best, during an interview with the ''[[Indian Express]]'' in 1965. He added that ''Swayamsiddha'' (1947) and ''Anjangarh'' (1948) were films that gave him "inspiration and strength". Hiralal credited filmmakers [[Birendranath Sircar]] and Hemachandra Chunder for having taught him to become a character actor, Roop K. Shorey for the "laugh" and "weep without sobbing" in films. He recalled Amarnath "built him up as a fighter" with his film ''Sarkar'' (1951).<ref name="ie" /> Hiralal was a fan of American actors [[John Barrymore]] and [[Paul Muni]].<ref name="memroles" />

== Personal life ==
Hiralal was born into a [[Punjabis|Punjabi]] family on 14 March 1909 (or 1910) in [[Lahore]], then a city in the [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab Province]] of [[British India]] (in present-day Pakistan). He was two children .Hiralal completed his education in Lahore and grew up watching and being influenced by the character of [[Ravana]] in the [[Ramlila]] plays.<ref name="tabassum">{{cite AV media |date= 8 July 2019|title= Hiralal: The First Villain Superstar of Bollywood, Tabassum Talkies|language= Hindi|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G45nGMC62pI|access-date= 28 August 2020|publisher= Tabassum Talkies}}</ref>

Hiralal married Darparani in 1945 and had five sons and a daughter with her. The sons were Krishna, Kamal, Prem, Ajay, and [[Inder Thakur|Inder]], the last of whom was an actor and model, and died in the [[Air India Flight 182]] bombing in 1985. Apart from his mother tongue [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], Hiralal could speak fluently in [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Urdu language|Urdu]] and English.<ref name="tabassum" />

== Filmography ==
{{colbegin}}
* ''[[Daughters of Today (1928 film)|Daughters of Today]]'' (1928)
* ''[[Safdar Jung (film)|Safdar Jung]]'' (1930)
* ''Awara Raqasa'' (1931)
* ''Pavitra Ganga'' (1932)
* ''[[Seeta (1934 film)|Seeta]]'' (1934)
* ''Suhag Ka Daan'' (1936)
* ''[[Mera Punjab]]'' (1940; [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] film)
* ''[[Meri Bahen]]'' (1944)
* ''Faisla'' (1947)
* ''Swayamsiddha'' (1947)
* ''Jhoothi Kasmein'' (1948)
* ''[[Anjangarh]]'' (1948)
* ''Badal'' (1951)... Jai Singh
* ''Sarkar'' (1951)
* ''[[Aaram (film)|Aaram]]'' (1951)... Bhagwan
* ''Sapna'' (1952)
* ''[[Do Bigha Zamin]]'' (1953)
* ''Raj Ratan'' (1953)... Raj Guru's lieutenant<ref>{{cite web |title=Raj Ratan (1953) – Review |url=https://cineplot.com/raj-ratan-1953-review |website=Cineplot.com |accessdate=28 August 2020}}</ref>
* ''Mehbooba'' (1954)
* ''[[Hamlet (1954 film)|Hamlet]]''... [[King Claudius]]
* ''[[Nagin (1954 film)|Nagin]]'' (1954)
* ''Danka'' (1954)
* ''Teen Bhai'' (1955)
* ''Riyasat'' (1955)
* ''Babasa Ri Laadi'' (1961; [[Rajasthani language|Rajasthani]] film)
* ''[[Bandini (film)|Bandini]]'' (1963)
* ''Sapni'' (1963; Punjabi film)
* ''[[Leader (1964 film)|Leader]]'' (1964)... Kargah
* ''[[Nishan (1965 film)|Nishan]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Nayak (1966 film)|Nayak]]'' (1966)... Kamal Misra
* ''[[Kismat (1968 film)|Kismat]]'' (1968)
* ''[[Loafer (1973 film)|Loafer]]'' (1973)... Singh's agent
*''[[Hamrahi (1974 film)|Hamrahi]]'' (1974)
* ''[[Kabeela]]'' (1976)
* ''[[Mr. Natwarlal]]'' (1979)
*''[[Insaaf Ka Tarazu]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Kaalia]]'' (1981)
{{colend|2}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{IMDb name|0386229}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiralal}}
[[Category:Indian male film actors]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male actors]]
[[Category:Indian male silent film actors]]
[[Category:Male actors in Hindi cinema]]
[[Category:Male actors from Lahore]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists]]
[[Category:Place of death missing]]
[[Category:20th-century births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]

Hiralal (actor) - Revision history

Bogdankdu at 09:49, 2 April 2026