When we talk about the top romantic hero in Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan's name comes to mind. When it comes to style, Salman Khan takes the cake and if we speak about an actor who has done a record number of films in a year, Akshay Kumar comes to mind. However, these actors, despite being in the industry for 30 years, have not been able to break the record set by one star who was active during the black and white era and took Bollywood by storm. This actor has registered a record in the Guinness Book which is still untouched by any other actor in the industry. The actor we are talking about today is none other than P Jairaj.
People often speculate about the number of years that an actor works in the film industry. But, P Jairaj was such a star that he was active in the film industry for a whopping 70 years. P Jairaj or Paidi Jairaj, who made his debut in 1929, has had an acting career spanning 70 years. He has acted in more than 300 films in his career.
P Jairaj is better known for character roles than as a lead. His name is also registered in the Guinness World Records for having the longest Bollywood career.
P Jairaj was born in Sircilla of Hyderabad State (present-day Telangana) in 1909. He developed an interest in theatre at a young age and left for Bombay in 1929. He made his acting debut in the same year with the silent film 'Star Kling Youth'. In his career, he acted in about 11 silent films.
In 1980, he was awarded with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award for films in India, for his contributions to Indian cinema.
P Jairaj married a Punjabi woman named Savitri from Delhi in 1940. It was a marriage arranged by Prithviraj Kapoor's father. He had two sons and three daughters. His wife died a year before him of cancer. Rajan Shahi, TV producer-director, is his daughter's son.
P Jairaj died in Mumbai on August 11, 2000.
