Bhudo Advani

Bhudo Advani
AI-upscaled still of Advani in the film Basant Panchmi
Born
Daulatram Advani

(1905-08-17)17 August 1905
Died25 July 1985(1985-07-25) (aged 79)
NationalityIndian
OccupationActor
Years active1933–1977

Bhudo Advani (17 August 1905 – 25 July 1985)[1] was an Indian character actor and comedian. He started his acting career in theatre with the notion of spreading awareness on social issues. He came to Bombay on the advice of an Ajanta Cinetone representative and was offered a role in the film Afzal, also called Hoor-E-Haram in 1933, directed by Mohan Bhavnani.[2] He later joined Sagar Movietone, becoming an important fixture in most films produced by them. He turned from character roles to comedy performing in Dr. Madhurika (1935), directed by Sarvottam Badami, Deccan Queen (1936) and Do Diwaane (1936), by C. Luhar.

Advani also became a vital part in director Mehboob Khan's films, acting in all the pictures directed by Mehboob while at Sagar Movietone. When Sagar shut down in 1939, Mehboob formed his own production company, National Studios, Bhudo Advani become a member there, but by the beginning of the 1940s, Advani was doing freelance work. In a career spanning forty-four years from 1933 to 1977, he acted in over ninety films.[3] Belonging to the Sindhi community, Advani, along with Moti Prakash and S. P. Menghani, helped toward the development and formation of the Sindhi theatre in 1961.[4]

His later memorable roles were in some of Raj Kapoor's films such as Boot Polish (1954), in which he lip-synced to the song "Lapak Jhapak Tu Aa Re Badariya", sung by Manna De in Raga Adhana,[5] also in Shri 420 (1955) and Ab Dilli Dur Nahin (1957). His last film was Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977), made by Satyajit Ray.

  1. ^ Kothari, Biren (2014). Sagar Movietone (1 ed.). Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India: Saarthak Prakashan. p. 217. ISBN 9788192686868.
  2. ^ BA, p. 217
  3. ^ Sanjit Narwekar (2005). Eena meena deeka: the story of Hindi film comedy. Rupa & Co. p. 33. ISBN 9788129108593. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  4. ^ Prakash Bharadwaj (1988). Sindhis Through the Ages. World-Wide Publishing Company. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  5. ^ Raju Bharatan (1 September 2010). A Journey Down Melody Lane. Hay House, Inc. pp. 174–. ISBN 978-93-81398-05-0. Retrieved 25 November 2016.