Prem Nath

He was born in 1926 in the Karimpura locality near Ghanta Ghar in Peshawar. His family moved to Jubbulpore (present-day Jabalpur) after partition and he moved to Bombay where he was discovered as an actor.

He fell in love with actress Bina Rai during the filming of Aurat. They married and formed a production company together called P.N. films.[1] Their children are actor Prem Krishen and Kailash Nath (Monty). Premnath also dated the famous actress Madhubala but stopped when she became interested in actor Dilip Kumar.[2]

They are also the grandparents of actress Akanksha Malhotra and director Siddharth Malhotra who are Prem Krishen's children. Adiraj Malhotra and Arjun Malhotra are the sons of Kailash Nath. His sister Krishna married Raj Kapoor while his other sister Uma was married to veteran Hindi Film actor Prem Chopra. His brothers Rajendra Nath and Narendra Nath were also actors who mostly appeared in comic and supporting roles. He was also a close friend of the actress Asha Parekh. He died of a heart attack in 1992 at the age of 65, just 18 days before his 66th birthday.

Prem Nath (right) with actor Prem Chopra (left)

Premnath made his film debut in Ajit (1948), opposite Monica Desai, which was one of the first colour films.[3] He got major roles in Raj Kapoor's first directorial film Aag, and Barsaat (1949) which was his first major success. In 1951, Nath starred in Badal opposite Madhubala, which was a big box office success. Premnath went on to appear in many films for the next three decades, some of which were the biggest blockbusters in Indian film history. The films in which he played the leading role failed to do well, but the films in which he played the central villain role or supporting role were some of the biggest blockbusters in Indian film history.

Some his most notable films were Aan (1952), Teesri Manzil (1966), Johny Mera Naam (1970), Tere Mere Sapne (1971), Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974), Dharmatma (1975), Kalicharan (1976) and Desh Premee (1982). He also starred in the religious Punjabi film Sat Sri Akal (1977). He earned Filmfare nominations as Best Supporting Actor for: Shor (1972), Bobby (1973), Amir Garib (1974) and Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974).[4]

Apart from Hindi films, he also appeared in an episode of the American television series Maya in 1967 and a 1969 American film titled Kenner opposite former American football player turned actor Jim Brown. He starred in a number of Punjabi films such as Sat Sri Akal (1977). He also directed the film Samundar (1957) for his home production house P. N. films, which was its only production. His last film appearance was in Hum Dono (1985) after which he retired from acting.

• Prem Nath at IMDb
• Monty Nath on father Premnath
• Poise and pearly smiles
• Article in The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum