Film comedian Rajendranath,
who had a fairly long innings as a comedian from
the late 1950s to the early 1990s, passed away
in Mumbai on February 13, 2008, following a brief
illness.
 Rajendranath,
the younger brother of well-known actor Premnath,
was born on June 8, 1931 in Tikamgarh state, now
Madhya Pradesh. His foray into acting began initially
as a radio artiste. He then came to Bombay and
joined the Indian Peoples’ Theatre Association
(IPTA) and also did a stint at Prithvi Theatres.
On screen, Rajendranath first appeared unbilled
on screen in the Nigar Sultana – Shyam starrer,
Patanga (1949) where Gope was the main comedian.
As Premnath turned producer, Rajendranath first
found small parts in his brother’s films
like Shagufa (1953), Prisoner of
Golconda (1954) and Samundar (1957).
Small parts in outside films like Filmistan’s
Hum Sab Chor Hain (1956) too did not
help till he was cast in Nasir Hussain’s
Dil Deke Dekho (1959) and HS Rawail’s
Shararat, the same year.
In fact, it was his association with Nasir Hussain
that led to some of Rajendranath’s most
famous work as a comedian. With Jab Pyar Kisise
Hota Hai (1961), Nasir Hussain gave him his
most unforgettable character, Popatlal –
a role he was to repeat in Hussain’s Pyar
ka Mausam (1969) as well. The Nasir Hussain
– Rajendranath team also worked and created
laughs in Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon (1963)
and Baharon ke Sapne (1967).
Rajendranath modelled himself on Lou Costello
of the famous Abbot and Costello team. His comic
style invoked their burlesque comedy routines
with Rajendranath always playing the clown in
chaddis and the like.
Though Rajendranath had a long innings and supported
a whole lot of heroes in the 1960s from Dev
Anand, Shammi Kapoor and Manoj
Kumar to Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt
and Dharmendra and moved smoothly
into the 1970s with newer heroes like Rajesh
Khanna, he could never rise to the level of
Johnny Walker or Mehmood.
The fact that he got typecast played a large factor
in him being unable to reinvent himself. In that
sense, he was the same buffoon in film after film.
A pity because he always seemed capable of much
more.
Other important films of Rajendranath include
Bimal Roy’s
Prem Patra (1962), Vijay
Anand’s Tere
Ghar ke Saamne (1963), Mujhe Jeeno Do
(1963), Rajkumar (1964), An
Evening in Paris (1967) where his role of
a Sikh tourist outraged the Sikhs and some scenes
of his had to be deleted, Purab aur Paschim
(1970), The Train (1970), Tum
Haseen Main Jawaan (1970) – also featuring
perhaps his most famous on-screen song Munne
ki Amma, Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971) and
Rafoo Chakkar (1975).
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