| Paidi Jairaj | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 28, 1909 Karimnagar, Hyderabad State |
| Died | August 11, 2000 (aged 90) Bombay, India |
| Years active | 1929–1995 |
| Spouse | Savithri |
Paidi Jairaj, Jayraj or Jai Raj (Telugu: పైడి జైరాజ్) (September 28, 1909 – August 11, 2000) was a renowned film actor, director and producer. He was recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifetime achievement in 1980.
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Jairaj was born in Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh State on September 28, 1909. A close relative of Sarojini Naidu, he received his education in Hyderabad. He developed interest in films during his graduate studies at Nizam College and left for Bombay in 1929.
He started his acting career in 1929 with silent movie Star Kling Youth. But subsequently he acted in about 11 silent movies including Triangle of Love, Mathru Bhoomi, All for Lover, Mahasagar Mothi, Flight into Death, My Hero etc.,
During the talkie period, from 1931 onwards, he started with Shikari in Urdu and English languages. Subsequently he was one of the top heroes for about two decades along with Shantaram, Pruthviraj Kapoor, Motilal etc., He acted with top heroines like Nirupa Roy, Sobhana Samarthe, Shakeela, Sashikala, Devika Rani, Meena Kumari, Chand Osmani, Madhuri, Jebunnisa, Khursheed with some big successes. The Bhabhi film put him in the list of top heroes.
The movies most remembered for his action are some of the historical films like Rajputani, Shajahan, Amar Singh Rathod, Veer Durgadas, Pruthviraj Chauhan, Rana Pratap, Tippu Sultan, Razia Sultana, Allauddin, Jai Chitod, Rana Hameer and many others. His body built, action and speech are best suited for these legendary characters. In the Shahid-e-Alam film, he acted as Chandrasekhar Azad.
He acted in about 170 films mostly in Hindi and Urdu, and some Marathi and Gujarati films. He directed a few films like Mohar, Mala (1943), Pratima, Rajghar and Saagar (1951). He produced the film Saagar in 1951. Though he was born a Telugu person, he did not act in any Telugu films.
Government of India honoured him by presenting Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his lifetime service to Indian film industry in 1980.
He married a Punjabi lady Savithri. He had two sons and three daughters. He died in Bombay on August 11, 2000.
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