Gurdeep Singh is a Sikh artist and actor from India who lives in the United States.[1][2]
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Gurdeep Singh belongs to the famous Ahluwalia clan of Lahore Punjab. His paternal side of the family was wealthy land owners. His maternal grandfather was Commissioner of Police in Lahore. During the Indian & Pakistan partition, his family was forced to flee in the middle of the night in the back of a truck. Gurdeep’s family had no choice but to leave all material possessions behind in Lahore.
After arriving in India, his parents settled in Agra, near the Taj Mahal where Gurdeep was born, into a family with two older sisters and one older brother. His father had joined the Indian railways as a carriage inspector. His father also fought alongside the British army during the World War II in Burma. Being the son of a railway official, Gurdeep traveled a lot with the family. He never stayed in one place for more than two years. After his father’s retirement, his older brother brought the family to Bombay (present-day Mumbai). In 1960 at the age of 17, Gurdeep graduated from high school in Bombay.
In his senior year of high school, Gurdeep had started his fascination with the Bombay film studios. Soon, he was writing about film stars for popular film magazines. He also started publishing short stories in major literary publications. His older brother was concerned about Gurdeep's exposure to the film industry at such a young age. To give him solid grounding, his brother put him in the prestigious Sir J. J. School of Arts. During his Sir J .J. school days, Gurdeep started furthering his name by establishing himself as a photojournalist, and was published in major publications in India. During his college days, he also received the impressive invitation to read his short stories on All-India Radio, Bombay. He graduated in 1967 with a degree in Applied Arts and a diploma in Fine Arts.
Gurdeep’s big movie break came in 1969 when he was cast as a leading man playing a Sikh in full beard and turban. This was historic for the Indian film industry. In this award-winning film, Uski Roti, Gurdeep won rave reviews in the media as he played a tough hard-drinking bus driver, who had a wife in the village and a mistress in the city. However, despite critical acclaim, it was not a good work experience for Gurdeep because of the double-talk and back-stabbing he experienced.
Soon after, Gurdeep lost interest in the Indian film industry. He stopped writing and taking pictures, but threw himself into painting seriously. In early 1970, Gurdeep sold everything, left India and arrived in the United States. In America, Gurdeep continued with his painting and exhibited around New York City and in Bombay.
Around this time Gurdeep’s personal life was also changing. His oldest daughter was born. To support his family, he took on many odd jobs – working during the day and painting at night. His family was growing. In spite of all this, he made sure he returned to India to see his aging parents every year. In 2002, an acquaintance recommended Gurdeep for a small TV role and this was Gurdeep’s re-entry into the film business.
Gurdeep is a proud Sikh. He takes to heart the teachings of The Ten Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib. He is also a father of two girls and three boys. He calls them his “panj piyare” (the first five Sikhs baptized by Guru Gobind Singh Ji.) Gurdeep has exhibited his large multi-colored paintings in Mumbai, New York, and New Jersey. Gurdeep currently lives in the United States with his family and has been quite busy working in America and Europe.
Actor: SAG Member-