Pradeep Kumar

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Pradeep Kumar (Pradeep Batabyal (Bengali: প্রদীপ বটব্যাল)), born in early 1925 in West Bengal, was an actor of Bengali and Hindi films.

[edit] Career

When Kumar was 17 years old, he decided to take up acting. His started his film career in Bengali films. His notable roles Bengali films were in Alaknanda(1947) directed by renowned filmmaker Debaki Bose and in '42 (1951).

Kumar then shifted to Bombay and Filmistan studios, and had an important role in the film Anand Math (1952). He played the lead role with Bina Rai in Anarkali (1953) and with Vyjayanthimala in Nagin (1954). Both films were very popular and had songs that added to the movies success. He had a spate of releases in the second half of the 1950s. He did not enjoy as much success in the 1960s, though Ghunghat (1960) , Taj Mahal (1963) and Aarti were successful.

He did not get to act in lead roles with the newer heroines of the 1960s like Sadhana, Saira Banu, Babita or Sharmila Tagore. In 1969, he moved to character roles with Sambandh, but did not have many visible roles till Razia Sultan in 1983.

Pradeep Kumar died in Calcutta on October 28, 2001, at the age of 76.