Parikshit Sahni

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Parikshit Sahni
Sahni in 2011
Born	(1939-01-01) 1 January 1939 (age 85) Muree, Punjab, British India (present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Parikshat Sahni Ajay Sahni
Alma mater	The Lawrence School, Sanawar
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1968–present
Spouses	Aruna Kapoor (died) Dr. Nandini Sahni
Children	Aditi Sahni (first marriage) Tania Sahni (first marriage) Varunjai Sahni (Jaipur-based abstract artist, second marriage)
Parents	Balraj Sahni (father) Damayanti Sahni (mother)
Relatives	Bhisham Sahni (uncle) Santosh Chandhok (stepmother) Sanober Sahni (stepsister)
Family	Anand–Sahni family
Website	parikshatsahni.com

Parikshit Sahni (born 1 January 1939) is an Indian film and television actor who has worked in Hindi and Punjabi cinema. He is known for his roles in the TV series Barrister Vinod, Gul Gulshan Gulfaam (Doordarshan) and Gaatha (Star Plus).^[1] He has also appeared several films including 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.^[2][3]

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. He was named by Rabindranath Tagore while his father was teaching English at Visva-Bharati University in Shantiniketan, and his mother was doing her Bachelors. Most of his schooling was done at the Lawrence school Sanawar. He then went to study at Delhi's St. Stephen's College.

Later, Sahni began his career as a child artist.^[4]

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 was married to Aruna Kapur.^[5]

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 Moscow 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 assisted Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker because Kapoor needed a person who could help him in working with the Russian Circus but he left that to act in Anokhi Raat.^[6][7]

Sahni even changed his screen name to Ajay Sahni at the suggestion of his friend Sanjeev Kumar during the shooting of their 1968 film Anokhi Raat, before eventually reverting to his own name a few years later.^[8][9]

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. He produced and acted in the popular TV series Gul Gulshan Gulfaam (1987) on DD National.

One of his most famous films was the Amitabh and Shashi Kapoor starer Kaala Patthar. He acted in the film 3 Idiots in which he played the role of R. Madhavan's father.^[10] He acted in the TV series Heena as Nawab Mirza, Heena's father. Heena ended in 2003. Sahni played Veer Singh (Kakasa) on the popular Zee TV serial Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar opposite Nivedita Bhattacharya.

• The Non-conformist: Memories of My Father Balraj Sahni, Penguin Random House, 2019.
• Strange Encounters: Adventures of a Curious Life, Simon and Schuster, 2022.

• Parikshat Sahni at IMDb
• I met a hermit on the run – Article by Parikshit Sahni