Parikshit Sahni

Biography

Parikshit Sahni (born 1 January 1944) is an Indian actor who is known for playing the lead in the TV series Barrister Vinod, Gul Gulshan Gulfaam (Doordarshan), and Gaatha (Star Plus).

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 actor Balraj Sahni and nephew of writer Bhisham Sahni.

He was born in Muree in the Rawalpindi District of the Punjab Province of British India (present-day in the Murree District of Punjab, Pakistan), into a Punjabi Hindu family, 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 in Sanawar.

He then went to study at Delhi's St. Stephen's College. Later, Sahni began his career as a child artist.

Sahni'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. After her death, his father married Santosh Chandhok two years later.

He is married to Aruna Kapur.

Sahni starred in the classic Punjabi film Marhi Da Diva (1989), with Raj Babbar, Pankaj Kapur, Kanwaljit Singh, and Deepti Naval. He played a remarkable role in the Hindi film Pavitra Paapi (1970) which was based on a Punjabi novel by Nanak Singh (a famous novelist). 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.