Omkar Nath Dhar (24 October 1915 – 10 June 1987), better known by his
stage name
A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...
Jeevan, was an Indian actor. He played the role of
Narad Muni in films of the 1950s, a total of 49 times.
[http://cineplot.com/jeevan-memories Memories of Jeevan] Later, he played the villain in popular Bollywood films of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. His son
Kiran Kumar (born Deepak Dhar) is also a film and television actor.
Early life
Jeevan was born into an aristocratic
Kashmiri Pandit family. His grandfather, a nobleman, served as the governor of the
Gilgit Agency. His mother died during childbirth and he lost his father when he was just three years old.
Career
From an early age, Jeevan wanted to be an actor as films had always fascinated him. Since his grandfather was the governor, their family was considered among the nobility. As a son of such a family, joining films would not have been accepted as films were considered taboo, so Jeevan ran away from home at the age of 18 and came to
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
with only Rs. 26 in his pocket.
After a brief period of struggle, he eventually landed himself a job in the studios of Mohan Sinha (
Vidya Sinha's grandfather). His job was to stick silver paper on the reflectors. It was here while working as a reflector boy that he landed a lead role in the movie ''Fashionable India'', which was being made by Mohan Sinha.
It is said that he has played
Narad Muni in more than 60 films and theater shows of different languages.
His most famous film as Narad Muni was the 1950 hit film “Har Har Mahadev” with
Trilok Kapoor and
Nirupa Roy. He became notable otherwise for his roles in ''Romantic India'' in 1935, ''Afasana'' in 1946 and ''Station Master'' in 1942. Jeevan appeared in several
Dev Anand films from 1946 to 1978 and in
Manmohan Desai movies such as ''
Amar Akbar Anthony'' and ''
Dharam Veer'' as villains. He also starred in the
Punjabi film ''Teri Meri Ek Jindri''. His last movie was ''Insaaf Ki Manzil'', released in 1986, produced by Ram Nandan Prasad and Directed by Braj Bhushan. He died on 10 June 1987 at the age of 71.
Selected filmography
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeevan
1915 births
1987 deaths
Indian Hindus
Kashmiri Hindus
Kashmiri Pandits
Kashmiri Brahmins
Kashmiri actors
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Male actors from Srinagar
20th-century Indian male actors