Lekh Tandon

Some Lesser Known Facts About Lekh Tandon

• Did Lekh Tandon smoke?: No

• Did Lekh Tandon drink alcohol?: Yes

• Lekh’s father, F. C. Tandon,  and Prithviraj Kapoor were school friends and classmates. Later, Prithviraj Kapoor inspired Lekh to join Bollywood.

• In September 1947, he came to Mumbai from Lahore, after which Prithviraj made him an assistant in RK Films.

• He worked as an assistant director with Raj Kapoor in films like ‘Aag’, ‘Barsaat’, and learned many aspects of direction from him.

• He made a Varanasi based serial-Bikhri Aas Nikhri Preet. The serial is based on the novel Vyavadhan published in 1963 by Late Shanti Kumari Bajpai.

• His 1966 flick ‘Amrapali’, starring Sunil Dutt and Vyjayanthimala, was picked as Indian entry for the best foreign language film at 39th Oscar awards.

• His role models are Raj Kapoor, Kidar Sharma, Frank Caprah, and Binny Wilder.

• He won the Filmfare Best Screenplay Award for his movie, ‘Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaye’ (1978).

• His debut directorial TV serial ‘Dil Dariya’ (1988) is credited for discovering Shah Rukh Khan.

• Throughout his career, he had this capability to pick the right actors for the characters in his films.

• In the latter part of his life, he acted in films like – ‘Swades’, ‘Chennai Express’, and ‘Rang De Basanti.’ 

• Since early 2017, he was bed-ridden and had multiple health issues due to which he passed away on 15 October 2017, around 5:30 pm, at his residence in Mumbai.