Gufi Paintal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Gufi Paintal

• Gufi Paintal was born in a middle-class family in Delhi.

• His family was based in Lahore, Pakistan, from where his father relocated to India and got settled in Delhi.

• Gufi’s father was a veteran cameraman of his time. He owned a small studio in Delhi.

• Gufi was inclined towards acting from a very young age and he, along with his brother Kanwarjit, used to enact small shadow plays in their childhood.

• His father desired him to become an engineer. So, he graduated in engineering.

• After completing his graduation, Paintal joined the Tata Engineering & Locomotive firm in Jamshedpur, Bihar.

• Gufi was enrolled in army in Bihar during defence emergency due to China war.

• Thereafter, Paintal got transferred to Tata Engineering & Locomotive branch in Bombay.

• At that time, his brother, Kanwarjit, had already settled in the entertainment industry.With the help of his brother, Gufi too entered the industry as an assistant director.

• Soon, he started doing character roles in TV serials and films.

• His acting debut came in 1978 with the film “Dillagi” in which he played the role of Ganesh.

• Subsequently, he appeared in small roles in a few films.

• 1988, Gufi joined as a technical head in B. R. Films and began looking after the ads division.

• While working there, he bagged the role of ‘Shakuni’ in B. R. Chopra’s epic TV series “Mahabharat.”

  

• He became very popular after playing the role of ‘Shakuni’ in the TV series.

• He featured as ‘Justice Raghunath’ in the crime series “Kanoon.”

• Some of his popular films include “Suhaag,” “Maidan-E-Jung,” “The Revenge: Geeta Mera Naam,” “Kaalo,” “Mahabharat Aur Barbareek,” and “Samrat & Co.”

• He used to get paid Rs. 3000 per episode for the TV series “Mahabharat.”

• Gufi shared in an interview that when he was serving in the Indian army, he and his fellows often used to enact ‘Ramleela’ in their leisure time and he used to play ‘Sita’ at that time.

• His first salary was Rs. 7000 per month, which he earned as an engineer with the Tatas.

• Gufi was appointed as the head of Mumbai’s Abbhinnay Acting Academy in 2010.

• In June 2023, he was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai, following a chronic illness related to his heart and kidney, where he died on 5 June 2023. ^[3]The Times of India