Kulbhushan Kharbanda

Some Lesser Known Facts About Kulbhushan Kharbanda

• Kulbhushan Kharbanda is a versatile Indian actor who is known for his stellar performances in the films Shaan (1980), Ghulami (1985), and Lagaan (2001).

  

• After the partition of 1947, Kulbhushan Kharbanda’s family moved from Pakistan to India, so his early schooling was in Jodhpur, Dehradun, Aligarh & Delhi.

• When he was studying at Delhi University, Amitabh Bachchan was also a student at the same university.

• During his college, Kulbhushan Kharbanda along with his friends created a theatre group named Abhiyaan. Later, he joined a bilingual theatre group Tarik. After working in ‘Tarik’, Kulbhushan moved to Kolkata in 1972 and continued theatre acting with Padatik, a theatre group.

• When he was a part of ‘Padatik,’ he also worked as a trainee and sales executive in a gas factory; however, he was later fired after he did a controversial play called ‘Sakharam Binder’.

• When he was doing theatre in Kolkata, he received several offers to work in films for which he later moved to Mumbai.

• In 2018, Kulbhushan appeared in an action crime thriller web series titled Mirzapur in which he played Satyanand Tripathi aka Bauji. He appeared in both seasons 1 and 2 of the series. In 2020, he played the role of Karim Chand Seth.

  

• He has done several plays such as Atmakatha, Teen Farishtay, and Hatya Ek Akaar ki. Kulbhushan left the theatre as he had got busy with films; however,  ‘Atmakatha’ became his comeback on the stage after 17 years in 2013.

• Kulbhushan has also appeared in many Punjabi films including Mahaul Theek Hai (1999), Midnight’s Children (2012), and Kirpaan – The Sword of Honour (2014).

• In 2011, he fell from a horse and was severely injured. After a few days, Vinay Sharma (play writer and director) offered him the play ‘Atmakatha’, but due to his injuries, Kulbhushan had to refuse the offer. However, Vinay Sharma was insistent on having him in the play, so he waited for him to recover.

• Kulbhushan smokes occasionally.