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The Non-Conformist: Memories of My Father Balraj Sahni
A legend with a host of admirers like Amitabh Bachchan and Om Puri, Balraj Sahni led the golden era of Indian cinema. He was known to be true to his principles, a non-conformist often remembered for his portrayals of the underprivileged. This is the untold story of one of the most iconic leading actors of this country. Written by his son Parikshat Sahni, the book-packed with unseen photos-provides personal and intimate glimpses of Balraj Sahni as a man and an actor, as a husband and a friend, as a parent and a patriot. It celebrates the life, times and impact of a simple man who inspired an entire generation of actors and continues to do so even today.
376 pages, hardcover
Published September 6, 2019
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44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 20, 2019
Balraj Sahni is a familiar name for a Punjabi literature student as myself. 'Mera Pakistani Safarnama' and 'Mera Rusi Safarnama' are the two books that immediately come to mind although I didn't have the pleasure of reading any of them even though one of these was part of the curriculum during my Masters. I also remember watching Garam Hawa and Do Bigha Zameen more than a decade ago but I now most of their memories have faded away.
I loved this book for that fact that it reintroduced 'Balraj Sahni', the writer and the actor but also introduced him as a father, a husband and a friend. I am quite eager to read and watch Balraj Sahni and I think Parikshit Sahni has been really successful as a memoir writer.
I loved this book for that fact that it reintroduced 'Balraj Sahni', the writer and the actor but also introduced him as a father, a husband and a friend. I am quite eager to read and watch Balraj Sahni and I think Parikshit Sahni has been really successful as a memoir writer.
September 16, 2019
A moving, personal account of the noble human being known as Balraj Sahni, who was much more than the sum total of his pursuits, including acting. "A man is known by the company he keeps."What an extraordinary life #BalrajSahni led,with close friends like younger brother #BhishamSahni(author) #ChetanAnand #IPTA friends like #KaifiAzmi and #AKHangal, houseboatwalas of #Srinagar, ghodewalas of #Gulmarg, #Mehjoor #PranKishore fishermen, bureaucrats. His interactions with Gurudev (Rabindranath Tagore) and his deep faith in Marxism are inspiring. A very interesting read, depressing and uplifting by turns.
December 10, 2019
Beautiful Book
What a full life Mr. Balraj Sahni lived!!!
Thanks Mr. Parikshat Sahni - love your writing style that shines through this anecdotes filled book.
What a full life Mr. Balraj Sahni lived!!!
Thanks Mr. Parikshat Sahni - love your writing style that shines through this anecdotes filled book.
August 1, 2021
PROMPT: A character who is a senior.
The Non-Conformist - Memories of my father, Balraj Sahni By Parikshat Sahni.
The son introduces his father thus: he was "a free-spirited man, he always spoke his mind without any guile”. To me, Balraj Sahni comes across as eccentric, intolerant and riddled with contradictions. I know of him as a great actor, I was shocked to discover that the same could not be said of the man. I did not enjoy reading the contents of the book.
But I also understood that if one wants to know the person, then one should read an autobiography. A biography is only a one sided view and in this context, I felt that the book is more an autobiography of Parikshit Sahni, rather than a biography of his father. I also felt that the tone was adulatory.
I was also surprised to find a Jamshedpur connection. The author's sister was married and came to live in Jamshedpur, the city of my birth. It was a short lived and unhappy marriage and she died soon after returning to Bombay. It was her death which finally broke Balraj Sahni
The Non-Conformist - Memories of my father, Balraj Sahni By Parikshat Sahni.
The son introduces his father thus: he was "a free-spirited man, he always spoke his mind without any guile”. To me, Balraj Sahni comes across as eccentric, intolerant and riddled with contradictions. I know of him as a great actor, I was shocked to discover that the same could not be said of the man. I did not enjoy reading the contents of the book.
But I also understood that if one wants to know the person, then one should read an autobiography. A biography is only a one sided view and in this context, I felt that the book is more an autobiography of Parikshit Sahni, rather than a biography of his father. I also felt that the tone was adulatory.
I was also surprised to find a Jamshedpur connection. The author's sister was married and came to live in Jamshedpur, the city of my birth. It was a short lived and unhappy marriage and she died soon after returning to Bombay. It was her death which finally broke Balraj Sahni
September 18, 2023
I woke up at 5 am to read this because i had downloaded it last night just before i crashed...i didn't set an alarm...I just woke up thinking aaj kuch ek koi important cheez karni hai! Haha
Does it live up my own created hype? Yes for me it does. Unless you only and only and only want to read about Balraj Sahni, you may be disappointed. It's obviously about him as an actor, with strange boorish ways yet his superbly honest heart and eyes , Marxist, his fondness for golden haired ladies, his impeccable performances in all his films BUT it's also a book about Parikshit Sahni himself as an actor, a man and a son...and that imho is more of a treat! I guess you'd have to read the book to find out more
I highly recommend it !
Other delicious gems in the book- recollections of India in 40s, post and pre aazaadi, old hindi cinema world, intro or re intro to Chetan Anand, Dev Anand, Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore, P.C Joshi (first Gen Sec of CPI), Giani Jail Singh, Bhishma Sahni and many more.
Parikshit Sahni is prone to use proper english but not in pretentious Tharoor manner but well he was born in 1939 bit no where does it irritate. He repeats a few things again and again but it's a very human and therefore honest and flawed biography
Does it live up my own created hype? Yes for me it does. Unless you only and only and only want to read about Balraj Sahni, you may be disappointed. It's obviously about him as an actor, with strange boorish ways yet his superbly honest heart and eyes , Marxist, his fondness for golden haired ladies, his impeccable performances in all his films BUT it's also a book about Parikshit Sahni himself as an actor, a man and a son...and that imho is more of a treat! I guess you'd have to read the book to find out more
I highly recommend it !
Other delicious gems in the book- recollections of India in 40s, post and pre aazaadi, old hindi cinema world, intro or re intro to Chetan Anand, Dev Anand, Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore, P.C Joshi (first Gen Sec of CPI), Giani Jail Singh, Bhishma Sahni and many more.
Parikshit Sahni is prone to use proper english but not in pretentious Tharoor manner but well he was born in 1939 bit no where does it irritate. He repeats a few things again and again but it's a very human and therefore honest and flawed biography
September 20, 2021
There is always , in this world , a unique relationship between a father and a son and the love and protection of a father cannot be surpassed . A son invariably living under the shadow of father doesn’t need anyone else to teach him .A father is hundreds of teachers rolled into one for a son .For a father watching his son’s first steps and growing up into a man are the greatest experiences of life .The father , inspite of the rough relationships of growing up as youth , is a son’s role model .
Parikshat Sahni , the only son of veteran actor Balraj Sahni , has written one of the most lucid biographies of Indian cinema’s male stars . The title of 260 page hardbound edition of “The Non-Conformist Memories of My Father Balraj Sahni” has recently been published by Penguin .The book is truly unconventional for like father like son he has penned a great insight into the life of the legend, that he was , Balraj Sahni Sahab .
In the introduction to the book , he writes , “The two of us were and are inextricably intertwined .While I have tried to portray him as he was , I have also tried to be true to my own impressions and viewpoints about how I saw him during different stages of my life .”
Elsewhere he writes , “ This book is my tribute to my father , to all that he stood for , to all that he has left behind in the hearts of the people , his people .It is my tribute to a man whose greatness I truly appreciate the closer I get to the autumn of my life . It is my homage to a man whom I did not understand in my childhood and adolescent years , but whom I am better able to appreciate now .”
Balraj Sahni was one of the most iconic leading artiste of Hindi Cinema , though he also did act in several Punjabi movies .Many intimate episodes that reveal the real Balraj Sahni who in flesh and blood was as much a human , as we all are , though on screen he usually portrayed straight characters.He was very unconventional in his living style and inspite of belonging to a rich family well rooted to the soil .
Most of all Balraj ji was a Pindiwal , though he was born in Bhera but the author says his association with Rawalpindi remained till the end .His friendships lasted lifetime so many people ,both men and women, from his days in Pindi and Lahore would visit and stay with them recalling the past days which Balraj ji recounted in their conversations with great vigour .The book also has pictures , apart from others, from his trip to Rawalpindi and visit to their ancestral haveli .
The author unhesitatingly writes that his father was a ‘ladies man’ whose company the fairer sex always sought .He has also mentioned about his ex-girlfriends including those in Britain who would come to live with them much to the chargin of his mother who didn’t like his ex-flames living with them when she could see through and through how much she , the other ,still adored him .
The woes of partition that wrecked their life and made them broke Parikshat has written so revealingly about .He has also shared episodes from their holidays and the chiding his mom gave to his father watching Balraj ji sharing buddies jokes with son unabashedly !
There is a special chapter on the house , named ‘Ikram’ built by Balraj Sahni Sahab on what is now named as Balraj Sahni Road in Mumbai .It makes compulsive reading how the family’s personal relationships were assaulted in the shadow of that house and how later they abandoned the place and the house stands today forlon and desolate .
Most compulsive reading is about the death of his young most loveable daughter Shabnam that totally devastated Balraj Sahni .With his association with IPTA , ‘Garam Hawa’, that was written by Kaifi Azmi Sahab and Ismat Chugtai Sahiba was his last movie and the most closest to his heart .
Recounting about dubbing of the movie Parikshat writes ,”Dad started dubbing the film at Rajkamal Studio.towards the end , the director wanted to finish the little bit left the next day .However , Dad implored him to finish it then and there even if it took longer than usual .In the last loop of the dubbing , he said the protagonist’s last line of the film , which went something like this , ‘I am tired of living in this stifling condition!”
Next morning , the Baisakhi of 1973 , April the 13 th he was no more .
Grab this one for those who like Indian cinema and its lores and good writing .Compulsive reading this one .Preface is by Amitabh Bachchan , who writes that when he was to join film industry his father Harivansh Rai Bachchan advised him to be like Balraj Sahni who was in the film industry , yet out of it.
Parikshat Sahni , the only son of veteran actor Balraj Sahni , has written one of the most lucid biographies of Indian cinema’s male stars . The title of 260 page hardbound edition of “The Non-Conformist Memories of My Father Balraj Sahni” has recently been published by Penguin .The book is truly unconventional for like father like son he has penned a great insight into the life of the legend, that he was , Balraj Sahni Sahab .
In the introduction to the book , he writes , “The two of us were and are inextricably intertwined .While I have tried to portray him as he was , I have also tried to be true to my own impressions and viewpoints about how I saw him during different stages of my life .”
Elsewhere he writes , “ This book is my tribute to my father , to all that he stood for , to all that he has left behind in the hearts of the people , his people .It is my tribute to a man whose greatness I truly appreciate the closer I get to the autumn of my life . It is my homage to a man whom I did not understand in my childhood and adolescent years , but whom I am better able to appreciate now .”
Balraj Sahni was one of the most iconic leading artiste of Hindi Cinema , though he also did act in several Punjabi movies .Many intimate episodes that reveal the real Balraj Sahni who in flesh and blood was as much a human , as we all are , though on screen he usually portrayed straight characters.He was very unconventional in his living style and inspite of belonging to a rich family well rooted to the soil .
Most of all Balraj ji was a Pindiwal , though he was born in Bhera but the author says his association with Rawalpindi remained till the end .His friendships lasted lifetime so many people ,both men and women, from his days in Pindi and Lahore would visit and stay with them recalling the past days which Balraj ji recounted in their conversations with great vigour .The book also has pictures , apart from others, from his trip to Rawalpindi and visit to their ancestral haveli .
The author unhesitatingly writes that his father was a ‘ladies man’ whose company the fairer sex always sought .He has also mentioned about his ex-girlfriends including those in Britain who would come to live with them much to the chargin of his mother who didn’t like his ex-flames living with them when she could see through and through how much she , the other ,still adored him .
The woes of partition that wrecked their life and made them broke Parikshat has written so revealingly about .He has also shared episodes from their holidays and the chiding his mom gave to his father watching Balraj ji sharing buddies jokes with son unabashedly !
There is a special chapter on the house , named ‘Ikram’ built by Balraj Sahni Sahab on what is now named as Balraj Sahni Road in Mumbai .It makes compulsive reading how the family’s personal relationships were assaulted in the shadow of that house and how later they abandoned the place and the house stands today forlon and desolate .
Most compulsive reading is about the death of his young most loveable daughter Shabnam that totally devastated Balraj Sahni .With his association with IPTA , ‘Garam Hawa’, that was written by Kaifi Azmi Sahab and Ismat Chugtai Sahiba was his last movie and the most closest to his heart .
Recounting about dubbing of the movie Parikshat writes ,”Dad started dubbing the film at Rajkamal Studio.towards the end , the director wanted to finish the little bit left the next day .However , Dad implored him to finish it then and there even if it took longer than usual .In the last loop of the dubbing , he said the protagonist’s last line of the film , which went something like this , ‘I am tired of living in this stifling condition!”
Next morning , the Baisakhi of 1973 , April the 13 th he was no more .
Grab this one for those who like Indian cinema and its lores and good writing .Compulsive reading this one .Preface is by Amitabh Bachchan , who writes that when he was to join film industry his father Harivansh Rai Bachchan advised him to be like Balraj Sahni who was in the film industry , yet out of it.
December 22, 2021
Balraj Sahni is the only Hindi film industry actor who I admire, perhaps it’s because of his personality and perhaps because he resembles my grandfather a bit. Unlike typical Hindi film actors, he embodied gentlemanly qualities. He had the persona of a suave, intelligent and respected gentleman. So, I was interested in reading his biography esp. since I had read good reviews about the book. Even though it is written by his son, it is not a hagiography. The author is candid with facts and while mentioning Mr. Sahni’s virtues, has also brought out his flaws. The writing style is lucid, though there were a few errors in the book. The author has been quite honest esp. when writing about himself and also with respect to Mr. Sahni’s dalliances. It was interesting to note that Marxism and socialism influenced Mr. Sahni so much.
The last chapter is interesting, but the author has given no explanation as to why they abandoned the house and left it in a dilapidated state, till date. The author begins the book with the house in the past and present day. In the concluding paras, he has mentioned that Ikraam’s story does not end with Mr. Balraj Sahni’s death. But then, he has not elaborated any further and that leaves the reader wanting for an explanation.
The last chapter is interesting, but the author has given no explanation as to why they abandoned the house and left it in a dilapidated state, till date. The author begins the book with the house in the past and present day. In the concluding paras, he has mentioned that Ikraam’s story does not end with Mr. Balraj Sahni’s death. But then, he has not elaborated any further and that leaves the reader wanting for an explanation.
May 22, 2023
Good writing but not kept interesting enough to keep the reader engaged.
Balraj Sahni deserves better.
Balraj Sahni deserves better.
August 16, 2024
A wonderful book about an actor whom every generation has revered.
November 17, 2019
Good and fast read about a personality that I have always admired.
Want to read
November 27, 2019This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews