Lekh Tandon (13 February 1929 – 15 October 2017) was an Indian filmmaker and actor. He had directed numerous

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

movies and Indian TV Serials. He gained national fame due to success of his directorial ventures

Professor (1962 film) ''Professor'' is a 1962 Hindi musical film, musical comedy film produced by F. C. Mehra and directed by Lekh Tandon. The film stars Shammi Kapoor, Kalpana Mohan, Kalpana, Bela Bose, Lalita Pawar, Tun Tun and Iftekhar. It was a box office super h ...

, Prince (1969 film),

Ek Baar Kaho ''Ek Baar Kaho'' () is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language drama film produced by Tarachand Barjatya and directed by Lekh Tandon. The film stars Shabana Azmi and Navin Nischol in main roles. The climax is inspired from that of the 1957 movie '' An Aff ...

, Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan and

Agar Tum Na Hote ''Agar Tum Na Hote'' () is a 1983 Indian Bollywood drama film directed by Lekh Tandon and starring Rajesh Khanna, Rekha and Raj Babbar in leading roles. Lekh Tandon received the Best Director Award for this film from the Filmfans Association o ...

. His films

Amrapali Āmrapālī, also known as "Ambapālika", "Ambapali", or "Amra" was a celebrated '' nagarvadhu'' (royal courtesan) of the Republic of Vaishali (located in present-day Bihar) in ancient India around 500 BC. Amrapali also won the title of rajnart ...

starring Vyjanthimala and

with

Rajesh Khanna Rajesh Khanna (; born Jatin Khanna; 29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who worked in Hindi films. Considered as one of the greatest and most successful actors in the history of Indian cinema, h ...

in the lead role are considered as classics. Later after 2000, he had acted in movies such as

Swades ''Swades'' () is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language drama film co-written, directed and produced by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, alongside Gayatri Joshi, Kishori Ballal, Daya Shankar Pandey, Rajesh Vivek, and Lekh Tandon. T ...

Rang De Basanti ''Rang De Basanti'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language epic coming-of-age socio-political drama film written, produced, and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The film stars an ensemble cast including Aamir Khan, Siddharth (in his Hindi d ...

Chennai Express ''Chennai Express'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Red Chillies Entertainment. It stars Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan and with Nikitin Dheer and Sath ...

and Chaarfutiya Chhokare. He was the brother of Urdu playwright Yograj Tandon.

Biography

Lekh's father, Faqeer Chand Tandon, had studied with

Prithviraj Kapoor Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an Indian actor who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and establish ...

at Khalsa High School (

Lyallpur Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

, Punjab,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

), and had been friends. Kapoor inspired Lekh to work in Bollywood. Around same time, Lekh's brother Yograj was working as assistant director and secretary to Kapoor. Lekh started as Assistant Director in Hindi movie industry in 1950s and became a director of several hit movies beginning with

. Though the prestigious film

Jhuk Gaya Aasman ''Jhuk Gaya Aasman'' is a 1968 romantic comedy film directed by Lekh Tandon. It stars Rajendra Kumar, Saira Banu, Rajendranath and Prem Chopra. The music is by Shankar Jaikishan. The film is a remake of the American film ''Here Comes Mr. Jordan ...

starring

Rajendra Kumar Rajendra Kumar (born as Rajendra Kumar Tuli; 20 July 1927 – 12 July 1999), was an Indian actor who starred in Bollywood films. Starting his career in 1949, he appeared in more than 80 films in a career spanning over four decades. Kumar was on ...

and Saira Bano did not become successful at box office, they are considered classics. His successful directorial ventures at box office include Prince (1969 film),

. His most talked about film remains

starring

in the main lead. Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaye was one of his biggest hits and the film's heroine Rameshwari told The Times of India that Tandon was involved in every aspect of the film. She also said that the film was released without any publicity. Actor

Victor Banerjee Victor Banerjee (born 15 October 1946) is an Indian actor who appears in English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language films. He has worked with directors such as Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Jerry London, Ronald Neame, Saty ...

, who played the leading role in his film, Doosri Dulhan, described him as a director who "loved his craft and could deftly weave the commercial angle in a decently-told narrative." For this film Khanna received Best Actor award and Tandon received Best director award at Filmfans Association Awards in 1983. Then he moved on to nascent TV scene and started directing TV serials. His first offering was '' Phir Wahi Talash'' on India's National Television Channel

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

. Lekh is credited with discovering

Shahrukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has appeared in more th ...

by casting him in his TV serial ''Dil Dariya''. Lekh is also discovering Lankesh Bhardwaj by appoint him as an assistant in Writing with him in the year 2001 and give him an opportunity as an actor in ''Ek Aangan Ho Gaye Doh''. He also directed TV serial

Farmaan ''Farmaan'' (also spelled Farman) is an Indian television show broadcast on DD National in 1994. The show was directed by Lekh Tandon and based on Rafia Amin's novel ''Alam Panah'', set in Hyderabad. The show's stars included Kanwaljit Singh, ...

, broadcast on Doordarshan in early 1990s.

Awards and recognition

*He shared the 1978

Filmfare Best Screenplay Award The Filmfare Best Screenplay Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Multiple Winners ; ; * Both Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani won the award twice jointly. List of winners ...

for his movie, Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaye, with Vrajendra Gaur and

Madhusudan Kalekar Madhusudan may refer to: * Madhusudana, an epithet of the Hindu deity Vishnu * ''Madhusudan'' (film), a 1941 Bollywood film People * Madhusudan Gupta (1800–1856), Indian doctor * Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824–1873), 19th-century Indian poe ...

. * His biopic, ''

'' starring

Vyjayanthimala Vyjayanthimala Bali ( Raman; born 13 August 1933), known mononymously as Vyjayanthimala, is an Indian parliamentarian, dancer and former actress. Regarded as one of Hindi cinema's greatest actresses and dancers, she is the recipient of sever ...

and

Sunil Dutt Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Raghunath Dutt; 6 June 1929 – 25 May 2005) was an Indian actor, film producer, director, and politician known for his work in Hindi Cinema. He acted in more than 80 films over a career spanning five decades and was t ...

, was India's submission to the

39th Academy Awards The 39th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1966, were held on April 10, 1967, hosted by Bob Hope at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. The Academy Awards broadcast faced the threat of cancellation due ...

for the

Best Foreign Language Film The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

*He received the Best Director Award for his film

starring

in Filmfans Association of India in 1983.

Filmography

As director

*''

Phir Ussi Mod Par Phir Ussi Mod Par (English: "''Back to Square One"'') is a 2019 Hindi drama film directed by Lekh Tandon. It was released after Tandon's death in 2017. ''Phir Ussi Mod Par'' premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on 8 March 2019 It was produce ...

'' (2018) *Daraar *Adhikar *'' Do Rahain'' (1997) *Jeena Nahi Bin Tere (1995) *''

Uttarayan The term Uttarāyaṇa (commonly Uttarayanam) is derived from two different Sanskrit words – "uttaram" (North) and "ayanam" (movement) – thus indicating the northward movement of the Sun. In the Gregorian calendar, this pertains to the "actu ...

'' (1985) *''

'' (1983) *''

Doosri Dulhan ''Doosri Dulhan'' () is a 1983 Bollywood film directed by Lekh Tandon. It stars Victor Banerjee, Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi in lead roles. The music of the film was composed by Bappi Lahiri. Plot The film tells the story of a childless co ...

'' (1983) *'' Khuda Kasam'' (1981) *'' Sharada'' (1981) *''

'' (1980) *'' Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye'' (1977) *'' Andolan'' (1975) *''

Jahan Pyar Mile ''Jahan Pyar Miley'' () is a 1970 Hindi-language film directed by Lekh Tandon. The film stars Shashi Kapoor and Hema Malini. The film's music is by Shankar Jaikishan. Sharda won the 1970 Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for the song "Baat Z ...

'' (1969) *''

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

'' (1969) *''

'' (1968) *''

'' (1966) *''

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

'' (1962) *''Shokhiyan'' (1951) as Assistant Director *''

Bawre Nain ''Bawre Nain'' ("searching eyes") is a 1950 Indian Hindi-language romance film directed by Kidar Nath Sharma. It was produced under the Ambitious Pictures banner at Shree Sound Studios. For the music, Sharma persisted with music director Roshan, ...

'' (1950) as Assistant Director *''

Neki Aur Badi ''Neki Aur Badi'' (Hindi for " Goodness Grows") is a 1949 Indian Hindi-language patriotic drama film directed by Kidar Sharma. The film stars Sharma with Madhubala and Geeta Bali. It was the only film in which Sharma played the male lead role. ...

'' (1949) as Assistant Director * ''Aag'' (1948 film), as Assistant Camera Man

As TV director

*'' Dil Dariya'' (1988-1989) *'' Phir Wahi Talash'' (1989-1990) *'' Doosra Keval'' (1989) (DD1) *''

'' (1994) *Ladai *Pyale Mein Toofan *Adhikar (1996-1999) (Zee TV) *Milan (2000-2001) Sony TV *Yarana (Dubai Television) *'' Aisa Des Hai Mera'' (2006) *Ek Angan Ke Ho Gaye Do (2010) - with Avinash, Lankesh Bhardwaj "Dev" and ors. *Bikhari Aas Nikhari Preet *Kahan Se Kahan Tak (2016)

As actor

* ''

'' (2004) - Dadaji (Village Chief) * '' Paheli'' - Wise Man * ''

'' - Daljeet "DJ's" Grandfather * ''

Halla Bol ''Halla Bol'' (''Raise Your Voice'') is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. ''Halla Bol'' stars Pankaj Kapur, Ajay Devgn and Vidya Balan in pivotal roles and a number of celebrities from the Hin ...

'' - Lekh Tandon * '' Chaarfutiya Chhokare'' - Kailash * ''

'' (2013) - Bhishambhar Mithaiwala (Rahul's grandfather)

References

External links

*
Official Website
Legendary Bollywood Film Maker Lekh Tandon

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tandon, Lekh 1929 births 2017 deaths Filmfare Awards winners Hindi-language film directors 20th-century Indian people Indian television directors Film directors from Lahore Film directors from Mumbai