Rajendra Nath Malhotra (8 June 1931 − 13 February 2008) was an Indian actor and comedian in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and Punjabi films.

Early life and family

Rajendra Nath was born on 8 June 1931 in Tikamgarh, which is now in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. His family was from the Karimpura locality of

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

but settled in

Jabalpur Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

in Madhya Pradesh. He studied at Darbar College, Rewa, where Arjun Singh (a Congress politician) and R.P. Agarwal were his classmates. Rajendra's elder brother Prem Nath went to Mumbai and became an actor, so Rajendra joined him in 1949. They were good friends of

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (; born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influen ...

and Shashi Kapoor. Rajendra and Prem's sister Krishna married actor-director

.Farewell Rajendra Nath : Laughter has left the building
''passionforcinema'', 13 February 2008. He had also another brother Narendra Nath who also became an actor who usually played some villain's role in the movies. Rajendra, who was little interested in studies, quit college and landed in Bombay to work in films like his brother. He did some plays at Prithvi theatre like Pathan and Shakuntala. It was here that he became close to Shammi Kapoor.

Career

Initially Rajendra struggled to get roles till Sashadhar Mukherjee offered him a comedian's role in '' Dil Deke Dekho'', a film directed by Nasir Hussain, starring

Shammi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. Kapoor is considered one of the greatest and most s ...

and

Asha Parekh Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is an Indian actress, film director, and producer who worked in Hindi films. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses of Hindi cinema, Parekh has worked in more than 85 films, in a career spanning over four d ...

. Rajendra Nath along with Asha Parekh were a regular feature in many Nasir Hussain films like '' Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon'', '' Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai'', '' Baharon Ke Sapne'' and '' Pyar Ka Mausam''. He also played a villain's role in ''Hamrahi'' opposite Shashikala whose character he kills. He has done 187 movies. He was one of the most famous comedians. His best role as comedian was in '' Mere Sanam'' and '' Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon''. He also played the role of Hero/Second Lead in "Vachan" and "'' Teen Bahuraniyan''". He played supporting roles in films like ''Dharkan'' by Devendra Goel and '' Jeevan Mrityu'' by Rajshri Productions. He played a buffoon called Popatlal in '' Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai'', and since then the name became synonymous with Rajendra Nath. He used this name in the famous TV series '' Hum Paanch''. He then did many films, mostly in comic roles, such as in ''

An Evening in Paris ''An Evening In Paris'' is a 1967 Indian romantic thriller film produced and directed by Shakti Samanta, with story by Sachin Bhowmick. It revolves in the French capital city of Paris. It stars Shammi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore (in a double role ...

'' and '' Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon''. One of his most applauded performances was in

Manoj Kumar Manoj Kumar (born Harikrishan Giri Goswami; 24 July 1937 – 4 April 2025) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most successful actors in t ...

's '' Purab Aur Paschim'' though it was not a full-fledged comedy role. He also contributed to Nepal's first movie Maitighar which was shot in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. He starred in a number of Punjabi films such as ''Jatt Punjabi'' and "Do Posti". He died on 13 February 2008 from cardiac arrest.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Rajendra Nath Profile on Rediff

Rajendra Nath Filmography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nath, Rajendra Indian male comedians Indian male film actors Male actors from Madhya Pradesh 2008 deaths 1932 births Male actors in Hindi cinema 20th-century Indian male actors People from Jabalpur 20th-century Indian comedians People from Tikamgarh