Girija Shankar

Some Lesser Known Facts About Girija Shankar

• Girija Shankar was born in a middle-class family in Patiala.

• Since childhood, he desired to join airforce.

• Shankar appeared for the airforce entrance test, however, could not qualify it because of his age.

• After completing his graduation, Girija, went to Delhi to get himself enrolled in the National School of Drama. However, he could not join the institute due to some personal reasons.

• He, then, decided to learn acting from an institute in Patiala.

• While in Patiala, Shankar met Harpal Tivana, and started practising theatre with him.

• He did theatre in Patiala for around 5 years and then moved to Delhi, and then, Mumbai to do theatre.

• In Mumbai, he did theatre with many renowned theatre artists.

• In 1988, Girija made his acting debut with the epic TV series, “Mahabharat” in which he played the role of ‘Dhritrashtra.’

  

• Apparently, Shankar was not aware of Dhritrashtra’s character until he bagged the role.

• Since Dhritrashtra had no vision, Shankar went to blind schools for several days to prepare himself for the role.

• Subsequently he appeared in films like “Daata’ (1989), “Maut Ki Sazaa” (1991), “Kal Ki Awaaz” (1992), “Mr. Azad” (1994), “Tum Se Achcha Kaun Hai” (2002), “Khwaab” (2004), and “Baghi” (2006).

• He has also appeared in the TV serials “Buniyaad” and “Charchit.”

• After working in Bollywood, Shankar worked in several Hollywood films.

• In 2006, he directed the English film “Banana Brothers.”

• After a while, he permanently shifted to America along with his family and started living there.