Kunal Singh (actor, born 1955)

Kunal Singh
Kunal Singh
Born
Kunal Singh Yadav

1955 (age 69–70)
NationalityIndian
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
Years active1979–present
SpouseArati Bhattacharya
Children
FatherBuddhadev Singh
HonoursRashtrakavi Dinkar Award (2012)
With Amitabh Bachchan

Kunal Singh Yadav is an Indian actor associated with Bhojpuri cinema. Also referred to as Amitabh Bachchan of Bhojpuri Cinema because of his dominance on Bhojpuri cinema and also as Jitendra of Bhojpuri cinema because of his remarkable resemblance with the bollywood actor Jitendra, Kunal, in his four-decade long career, has acted in more than 250 movies.[1] For his contributions to cinema, he was awarded the Rashtrakavi Dinkar Award in 2012 by Pranab Mukherjee.[2]

Life

Kunal was born in a 1955 in a Yadav family. His father Buddhadev Singh was a senior Congress leader.[3] He has remarkable resemblance with the bollywood actor Jeetendra. In his childhood he was asked to read out from the script of a play named Jantantra Zindabad, for his bad performance in the audition the director complemented that "acting is not his cup of tea". After this incident he decided to become an actor. He is married to Bengali actress Arati Bhattacharya.[3]

Yadav with Satyajit Ray and wife Arati Bhattacharya, on the day of his wedding

Acting career

Yadav and A.K.Hangal in Kal Hamara Hain

He made his acting debut with the Hindi film Kal Hamara Hai (1980) directed by Girish Ranjan. He played the role of a Tonga Drive in that film. It did a good business in the theatres of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. After this film he started getting many offers for Bhojpuri films. His first major success in Bhojpuri was Dharti Maiyaa (1981), in which he played the role of a wayward youth. His biggest hit Ganga Kinare Mora Gaon was released 1983. In a theatre of Varanasi it ran for 16 months.[1] His Ram Jaisan Bhaiyaa Hamar ran for 50 days in Kishanganj and broke the record held by Ram Teri Ganga Maili[3] In 2007, he acted with Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty in the Bhojpuri film Gangotri.[4] His first film in 2022 was Aashiqui starring Khesari Lal Yadav and Amrapali Dubey.[5]

Film Hamar Dulha

Filmography

Bhojpuri

Year Film Role Co-stars Director Notes
1981 Dharti Maiya Padma KhannaGauri Khurana Qamar Marvi
1983 Ganga Kinare Mora Gaon
Hamar Bhauji Jayshree T.
1985 Bihari Babu Shatrughan SinhaAlpana Goswami Dilip Bose [3]
1986 Dulha Ganga Paar ke Gauri Khurana Rajkumar Sharma [3]
Beti Udhaar ke
"Sohag Bindiya" Rajni Sharma
1988 Dagabaz Balma Sahila Chadha,

Padma Khanna, Jayshree T.

Arati Bhattacharya
1989 Hamaar Dulha Aanchal

Seema Deo

Chhotu Purniyawala
2005 Dulha Milal Dildar
2022 Aashiqui Satish Dubey Khesari Lal Yadav

Amrapali Dubey

Parag Patil [5]
2023 Aangan Ki Lakshmi Rani ChatterjeeRinku Ghosh Anil Nainan First Look Out[6]
2024 Rang De Basanti Khesari Lal Yadav

Rati Pandey

Premanshu Singh [7]

Hindi

Year Film Role Co-stars Director Notes
1980 Kal Hamara Hai Padma Khanna, Govardhan Asrani, Arati Bhattacharya, A. K. Hangal, Jayshree T. Girish Ranjan [3]
2023 The Rise of Sudarshan Chakra Yashpal Sharma (actor),Milind Gunaji,Preeti Jhangiani,Rakesh Bedi,Junior Mehmood Anil Kulchainiya [8]

Political career

Yadav with Mr Shtrughan Sinha

He contested election in 2014 from Patna Sahib as a Congress Candidate against Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Shatrughan Sinha and lost the battle.[9][10][11][12]

with Ms Meeria

Awards

Awarded the RAMDHARI SINGH DINKAR AWARD by honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee in 2012 at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.

For his contributions to cinema, he was awarded the Rashtrakavi Dinkar Award in 2012 by Pranab Mukherjee

References

  1. ^ a b "40 साल, 273 फिल्में और राष्ट्रपति से सम्मान; भोजपुरी फिल्मों के अमिताभ हैं कुणाल सिंह". Jansatta (in Hindi). Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  2. ^ "भोजपुरी सिनेमा का 'अमिताभ बच्चन', 1 साल 4 महीने तक चली थी इनकी फिल्म". Navbharat Times (in Hindi). Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Ghosh, Avijit (22 May 2010). CINEMA BHOJPURI. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-81-8475-256-4.
  4. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun to star in Gangotri". Hindustan Times. 26 March 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  5. ^ a b "भोजपुरी फिल्म 'आशिकी' की रिलीज से पहले खेसारी लाल और आम्रपाली दुबे की हुई पूजा, मंत्र उच्चारण और आरती भी". Navbharat Times (in Hindi). Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  6. ^ "सितारों से सजी 'आँगन की लक्ष्मी' का फर्स्ट लुक आउट, फिल्म में नजर आएंगे भोजपुरी के पितामह कुणाल सिंह". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  7. ^ "कश्मीर पहुंची फिल्म 'रंग दे बसंती' की टीम, इस हीरोइन की हो रही भोजपुरी में लॉन्चिंग". Amar Ujala (in Hindi). Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  8. ^ "The Rise Of Sudarshan Chakra - Official Trailer | Hindi Movie News - Bollywood - Times of India". The Times of India.
  9. ^ "Today's Horse Racing - Latest Horse Racing News, Live Races and Results - Telegraph India". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Bhojpuri actor Kunal ready for poll battle against Shatrughan Sinha". The Indian Express. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Contesting against Shatrughan Sinha a 'prince vs pauper' battle: Kunal Singh". The Economic Times. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  12. ^ "RptPC_WISE_TURNOUT". 6 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2022.