Rakesh Pandey

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A brief biography

Avijit Ghosh, March 24, 2025: The Times of India

New Delhi : Rakesh Pandey was the hero of Basu Chatterji’s seminal New Wave film, ‘Sara Akash’ (1969), who eventually attained box-office stardom in Bhojpuri cinema with ‘Balam Pardesia’ (1979). Gemini’s ‘Ek Gaon Ki Kahani’ (1975), director Lekh Tandon’s ‘Andolan’ (1975), ‘Mera Rakshak’ (1978) and ‘Dharti Maiyya’ (1981, Bhojpuri) are some of his other remembered films.


Pandey was born in Nahan, Himachal. His father was the royal priestin the estate of the Raja of Sirmaur. After graduation, he joined FTII, Pune. Pandey got his big break in ‘Sara Akash’, where he played a college student forced to get married and refusing as revenge to talk to his wife. Actor-director Subhash Ghai was initially considered for the role. “But finally I zeroed in on Pandey as I wanted someone leanerfor the r ole,” Chatterji told this reporter in 2011.
‘Sara Akash’ was critically acclaimed and became a minor boxoffice success. Hindi cinema lovers might also remember him for the small role of Rajesh Khanna’s brother-in-law in ‘Amar Prem’ (1972). But thereafter the
hits deserted him. His fortunes improved after producer Nazir Hussain’s ‘Balam Pardesia’. “I charged Rs 1.5 lakh for a leading role in a Hindi film those days, but for ‘Balam Pardesia’, I was paid Rs 25,000. After the film became a superhit, I started getting Rs 1 lakh per Bhojpuri film,” he told this reporter in 2008. Pandey kept working in films and TV till the v ery end.