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Aanjjan Srivastav

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Aanjjan Srivastav
Srivastav in 2012
Born
Anjan Srivastav

(1948-06-02) 2 June 1948 (age 76) [1]
Calcutta, West Bengal, India (present day, Kolkata, West Bengal, India)
OccupationActor
Years active1976–present
SpouseMrs. Madhu Srivastav

Dr. Aanjjan Srivastav (born 2 June 1948) is an Indian film, television and stage actor, associated with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in Mumbai of which he remained Vice-President for several years. Outside theatre, he is best known as a character actor in Marathi and Hindi films, most notably, Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala and Anupam Mittal's Flavors and Bollywood films like Gol Maal, Bemisal, Khuda Gawah, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa and Pukar. He has also acted in the TV shows Wagle Ki Duniya (1988) and Wagle Ki Duniya – Nayi Peedhi Naye Kissey (2021).

On television, Srivastav made his mark as the quintessential "common man" in the TV series Wagle Ki Duniya (Wagle's World) (1988–90) and Wagle Ki Nayi Duniya, where he played the lead role, apart from Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984) and Nukkad.[2][3] He has also acted for more than 40 years in over 30 plays, many of them jubilee hits, including Bakri, Moteram Ka Satyagrah, Shatranj Ke Mohre, Ek Aur Dronacharya and Chakkar Pe Chakkar.[4][5] One of his serials is Bharat Ek Khoj, based upon Pt. Nehru's Discovery of India, wherein he played various roles.

Early life and education

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He was born and brought up in Calcutta (now Kolkata), into a family from Uttar Pradesh and his father was a banker with Allahabad Bank. Anjan did his B.Com. and LLB from Calcutta University, it was here that he started taking part in local Hindi and Bengali theatre groups in 1968, and did plays for All India Radio. Meanwhile, he also did a small role in the film Chameli Mem Shaeb. Soon he acted with noted groups in the city like Kala Bhavan, Sangeet Kala Mandir and Adakar and acted in a few Bengali films.[3]

Career

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As per his fathers wishes, he joined the Allahabad Bank, and continued acting in plays on the side. It was only after the death of his sister in 1976 that his father relented and allowed him get transferred to Bombay (now Mumbai) to pursue his acting career further.[3]

Upon arrival, he immediately joined Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and worked in its several productions, and remained with it ever since, after staying its General Secretary of IPTA for a while, he went on to become the Vice-President. He also worked with Prithvi Theatre in the city.[5][6][7]

Anjan started his career with Bengali plays like Neel Darpan, Kayakalp and Anwar around the year 1967. In Mumbai, with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), he contributed to several plays including the most renowned Safaid Kundali (The Caucassion chalk circle) by M. S. Sathyu and other Stage plays in the social category with association of the same theatre group. Theatre led to film roles like in Kundan Shah's Saza-E-Maut, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's comedy classic, Gol Maal (1979) and JP Dutta's Ghulami (1985). Then he moved in Television with Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi and went on act in notable TV series like Manoranjan, Tamas, by Govind Nihlani, Nukkad and Katha Sagar, finally in 1987, he received the lead in comedy series, Wagle Ki Duniya, based on R.K. Laxman's common man, which brought him his place in the limelight. He also acted in Shyam Benegal's epic series, Discovery of India.[8]

He often plays skeptical bureaucratic roles, sometimes the conventional narrow-minded father character, and as the veteran actor who effectively enacted the troubles and ways of life of a common-middle-class man in Wagle Ki Duniya, a creation by known cartoonist R.K. Laxman and director Kundan Shah. He has acted in over 127 Hindi films including Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, as head hockey official, Mr. Tripathi in Chak De! India, and in other films like Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and No Entry and many other characters in various films. In 2005, he played the lead in M.S. Sathyu's production Raat, written by Javed Siddiqui and based on Ariel Dorfman's play Death and the Maiden.[9] Other plays Anjan continues to do include Moteram Ka Satyagrah, directed by M. S. Sathyu, based on the writings of Munshi Premchand and Safdar Hashmi and Kashmakash, directed by Ramesh Talwar. These plays mostly run at Prithvi Theatre, Mysore Association-Sion, TejPal Auditorium. Anjan's Moteram Ka Satyagrah and Shatranj Ke Mohre are some plays which have been running now for more than 20 years.

All through his acting career, he remained a bank employee from where he later retired in 2001.[3]

Theatre shows

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Year Play Direction Language
1967–1978 Kayakalp Sushila Mishra Bengali
Baati Ghar Bijon Chatterjee Bengali
The Chinese Wall Sushila Mishra Bengali
All My Sons Sushila Mishra - Arthur Miller's Bengali
Neel Darpan (Bengali) Jnanesh Mukherjee - Bandhu Mitra's Bengali
Aashad Ka Ek Din Badri Prasad Tewary - Mohan Rakesh's Bengali
Chakkar pe Chakkar Rajendra Sharma Bengali
Kachwa Aur Khargosh Rajendra Sharma Bengali
Aasman Se Gira Rajendra Sharma Bengali
Kisi Ek Phool Ka Naam Lo Rajendra Sharma Bengali
Barf Ki Minar Rajendra Sharma Bengali
Ek Aur Dronachaarya Badri Prasad Tiwari Bengali
The Good Woman of Setzuan Shyamaland Jalan - Brecht's Bengali
1978–present The Ghost (Ateet Ki Parchaaiyan) R. M. Singh - Ibsen's Hindi

2000

Bakri M. S. Sathyu - Saxena's Hindi
1978 Hum Farishtey Nahin Javed Khan Hindi
1979 Aap Kaun Hai, Kya Karte Hai, Kya Karna Chahte Hai Baasu Bhattacharya (adaptation)
Hori Kamlakar Sontake Hindi
1979–1980 The Caucassion chalk circle as Sufaid Kundali M. S. Sathyu - Brecht's Hindi
1980 Dande Ka Ghoda M. S. Sathyu- Brecht's Hindi
Dekha Andekha Ashok Lal Hindi
1983 Lok Katha Ramesh Talwar Hindi
1983 Rakshas M. S. Sathyu Hindi
1985 Ek Aur Dronacharya S. Dangayach - Dr. Shankar Shesh's Hindi
1984 The Dragon as Rakshas M. S. Sathyu Hindi
1986 Rajdarshan Waman Kendre Hindi
1987 Saiyyan Bhaye Kotwal Waman Kendre Hindi
1989–90 Moteram Ka Satyagraha M. S. Sathyu - Premchand's Hindi
1989 Aakhri Peshi Jaspal Sandhu Hindi
1991–92 Temp Me Not Waman Kendre Hindi
1999 Shatranj Ke Mohre Ramesh Talwar - P. L. Deshpande's Hindi
1999 Ek Mamooli Aadmi Raman Kumar - Akiru Kurusawa's Ikiru Hindi
2000 Kurukshetra Se Kargil Tak M. S. Sathyu - K. V. Puttappa Hindi
2001 Surya Ke Waris Jaydev Hattangady Hindi
2002 Tajmahal Ka Tender Salim Arif Hindi
2002 Aakhri Shama M. S. Sathyu - Kaifi Azmi's Urdu
2002 Raat (Based on 1994 Mystery Death & the Maiden) M. S. Sathyu - Javed Siddiqui Hindi
2002 Doodh King Jha Hindi
2004 Kashmakash (Based on Bengali Play Tamrapatra) Ramesh Talwar Hindi/ Bengali
2007 Orange Juice Hindi
2007 Hum Deewane Hum Parwane Ramesh Talwar Hindi/Urdu
2013 Darindey: The Villains Ramesh Talwar Hindi
2012–13 Rishton Ka Live Telecast Prasad Khandekar (Non IPTA production) Hindi
2017 Ek Aur Dronacharya (Revived) S. Dangayach - Dr. Shankar Shesh's Hindi
2017 Ek Mamuli Aadmi (Revived) Raman Kumar (AShok Lal) Hindi
2017 Bakri (revived) M. S. Sathyu Hindi

Selected television shows

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Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ Aanjjan Srivastav at his 60th birthday party held on 2 June 2008 at The Club, Andheri. Archived 4 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine www.realbollywood.com.
  2. ^ Profile of Anjan Shrivastava: The Uncommon Common man www.indiantelevision.com.
  3. ^ a b c d Anjan's world[usurped] The Hindu, 16 September 2003.
  4. ^ "The quintessential common man". Indian Express. 16 June 2003. Archived from the original on 21 June 2003. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  5. ^ a b IPTA will never close down Indian Express, 1 May 1997.
  6. ^ "Trapped in Wagle's mould". Indian Express. 9 November 1999.
  7. ^ The show must go on!: The Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) moves into the 60th year of its formation The Tribune, 18 August 2001.
  8. ^ "Long Run". Screen. 16 October 2009. Archived from the original on 23 October 2010.
  9. ^ Night to remember: M.S. Sathyu's `Raat' is being staged in the city The Hindu, Hyderabad, 4 August 2005.
  10. ^ Adarsh, Taran (29 March 2002). "Durga Review 1/5 | Durga Movie Review". Bollywood Hungama.
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