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AWARDS AND HONOURS

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 2/28/2020 11:14:41 AM

Saeed Jaffrey : Recipient of Padma Shri

Saeed Jaffrey was an Indian- British actor whose versatility and fluency in multiple languages allowed him to straddle radio, stage, television and film in a career that spanned over six decades and more than a hundred and fifty British, American, and Indian movies. He was able to breathe life into the smallest of roles through intense preparation and a nuanced performance, like that of the interpreter and guide Billy Fish in The Man Who Would Be King (1975), an act that brought him international attention. His seductive, resonant voice combined with a gift for mimicry and a sharp ear for accentsmade him the natural choice as narrator for audio books. His narration of the Kama Sutra titled The Art of Love(1996) was listed by Time magazine as "one of the five best spoken word records ever made"He voiced all 86 characters in the 1997 BBC World Service broadcast of Vikram Seth's novel, A Suitable BoyDuring the 1980s and 1990s he was considered to be Britain's highest-profile Asian actor, thanks to his leading roles in the movie My Beautiful Laundrette(1985) and television series The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Tandoori Nights(1985–87) and Little Napoleons (1994) Merchant Ivory Productions films such as The Guru (1969), Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1978), The Courtesans of Bombay (1983) and The Deceivers (1988). He broke into Indian films with Satyajit Ray's Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) for which he won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award in 1978. His cameo role as the paanwala Lallan Miyan in Chashme Buddoor (1981) won him popularity with Indian audiences He became a household name in India with his roles in Raj Kapoor's Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) and Henna (1991), both of which won him nominations for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. He was the first Asian to receive British and Canadian film award nominations. In 1995 he was awarded an OBE in recognition of his services to drama, the first Asian to receive this honour.[13] His memoirs, Saeed: An Actor's Journey, were published in 1998. Jaffrey died at a hospital in London on 15 November 2015, after collapsing from a brain haemorrhage at his home. He was posthumously given the Padma Shri award in January 2016 Saeed Jaffrey was born on 8 January 1929 to a Punjabi Muslim family in Malerkotla, Punjab region. At that time, his maternal grandfather, Khan Bahadur Fazle Imam, was the Dewan or Prime Minister of the princely state of Malerkotlaaffrey and his family moved from one medical posting to another within the United Provinces.