Noted Hindi and Punjabi film writer-director Pushpraj passed away on 4th October. He was 85. He had had a fall in his in-laws’ home in Jaipur during the lockdown. Because of this, he was bedridden for more than two months in Jaipur. His recovery was slow but steady. He came to Bombay in August, where he breathed his last in October.
He had directed Neelma in Hindi and Tere Rang Nyare (1973) in Punjabi. While Neelma, released in 1975, proved a colossal flop, the Punjabi film scored very well. In fact, hisTere Rang Nyare was screened one day for eight shows round the clock! His next Punjabi film, Daku Shamsher Singh, tanked at the box-office. He had made Minoo in 1977, which may not have fared well at the ticket windows but its songs — Teri galiyon mein hum aaye and Kaali re kaali re tu toh kaali kaali hai — became very popular. Much later, he also made Bhojpuri and Bundeli films. He worked as the production manager in Rajasthani film Nanibai Ko Mayro (1988) and he was the executive producer in the Hindi dubbed version thereof, Shree Krishna Bhakt Narsi (1993).
His TERE RANG NYARE was screened one day for eight shows round the clock!
Pushpraj B. Singh entered the film indusry, thanks to his sister and brother-in-law. His brother-in-law used to work in Pune’s (then Poona) Prabhat Studio as assistant writer-director. Pushpraj reached Pune when he was barely 16 years old. That was the time Gurudutt, Dev Anand, Ram Singh and Pushpraj’s brother-in-law used to share a room in Pune. Pushpraj used to take Gurudutt pillion on his bicycle and used to roam the city. Since he was a good actor, Pushpraj also occasionally acted in films in small roles.