Parikshit Sahni


Parikshit Sahni is an Indian film and television actor, who is most known for playing the lead in TV series Barrister Vinod, Gul Gulshan Gulfaam and Gaatha. He has also appeared in three of Rajkumar Hirani's blockbuster films Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 3 Idiots, and PK.
He is the son of noted actor Balraj Sahni and nephew of writer Bhisham Sahni.

Early life

He was born in Muree while his father was teaching English at Visva-Bharati University in Shantiniketan of Rabindranath Tagore, and his mother was doing her Bachelors. Most of his schooling was done at the Lawrence school Sanawar. Then he went to study at Delhi's St. Stephen's College. Later, he began his career as a child artist.

Personal life

Parikshit's parents were both theatre and film actors, although his mother acted in only a couple of films before her death at an early age in 1947. His father subsequently married his own cousin Santosh Chandhok two years later.
He is married to Dev Anand's niece Aruna Kapur.
On the advice of his uncle, Bhishm Sahani, Parikshit Sahni was sent by his father to attend a five year course in architecture in Moscow. However, since he was poor in maths, he was advised to get admission in Cinema Institute. He cleared the aptitude test and joined the five-year course in film direction in the Moscow Cinema Institute. He returned in 1966 and started his film career in India.
He was a good friend of late actor Sanjeev Kumar. Parikshit even changed his screen name to Ajay Sahni at the suggestion of Sanjeev Kumar during the shooting of their 1968 film Anokhi Raat, before eventually reverting to his own name a few years later.

Career

One of his most famous films is 3 Idiots. where he got appreciation for playing R. Madhavan's father. He had a major role in the TV series Heena as Nawab Mirza, Heena's father. Heena ended in 2003. Sahni played Veer Pratap Singh on the popular Zee TV serial opposite Nivedita Bhattacharya.
He starred in the classic Punjabi film Marhi Da Diva, with Raj Babbar, Pankaj Kapur, Kanwaljit Singh, and Deepti Naval. He played a remarkable role in the Hindi film Pavitra Paapi which was based on a Punjabi novel by Nanak Singh. Pavitra Paapi also featured his real life father, Balraj Sahni in a pivotal role.
He acted in the Doordarshan television series The Great Maratha as Malhar Rao Holkar.

Selected filmography

Films

TV series