Motilal Rajvansh
(1910-65)
Hindi actor born in Simla; best known as the gentleman crook in Gemini’s
Mr Sampat, based on R.K. Narayan’s famous novel, and as the tragic hero’s city friend in Bimal Roy’s 1955 version of
Devdas. Played several roles as the urbane city-bred sophisticate, e.g. in Mehboob’s
Taqdeer, and most notably in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s
Anari, where his suave performance as a business magnate counterpoints Raj Kapoor’s awkward Oedipal rebellion. Also played a spectacular antipathetic role in Kardar’s
Holi. Together with Sabita Devi, he formed a top 30s screen couple in Sagar’s socials, e.g. Badami’s K.M. Munshi-scripted
Dr Madhurika. Later worked at Ranjit in Chandulal Shah’s
Achhut, in Jayant Desai’s
Diwali and
Shadi and in Chaturbhuj Doshi’s
Pardesi and
Sasural, usually with Madhuri. Elaborated a realistic acting style relying on casual dialogue delivery, often hailed as the first example of naturalistic film acting in India. His style marked the early work of Mehboob (
Jagirdar,
Hum Tum Aur Woh,
Taqdeer) and Kidar Sharma (
Armaan,
Kaliyan) and was acknowledged by Dilip Kumar as a significant predecessor. Cousin of playback singer Mukesh.