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Prakash Mehra

Personal Profile

Prakash Mehra
  • Date of Birth:
    July 13, 1939
  • Zodiac Sign:
    Cancer
  • Place of Birth:
    Bijnaur, Uttar Pradesh, India
  • Place of Death:
    Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • Date of Death:
    May 17, 2009
  • Cause of Death:
    Pneumonia
  • Sex:
    Male
  • Nationality:
    Indian
  • Religion:
    Hinduism

Family

Prakash Mehra
  • Son:
    Sumeet, Amit, Puneet

Career

Prakash Mehra
  • Profession:
    Film director
  • Claim to Fame:
    Zanjeer - 1973 - Movie
  • Debut:
    Haseena Maan Jayegi - 1968 - Movie

Trivia

Prakash Mehra
  • Prakash Mehra was one of the first Bombay directors to try venture into Hollywood. In the late eighties he tried a joint venture to make the movie The God Connection with Frank Yandolino. The movie was to include Hollywood actors such as Charles Bronson among others, but the project though funded heavily initially, never came to fruition.
  • He also received Lifetime Achievement as Producer from IMPPA (Indian Motion Picture Producers Association) on September 19, 2008.
  • Mehra received a lifetime achievement award from the India Motion Picture Directors Association (IMPDA) in 2006.
  • In 1973, he produced and directed Zanjeer. This mega blockbuster with Amitabh Bachchan started a relationship that spanned 7 more films, 6 being huge blockbusters (Khoon Pasina, Hera Pheri, Muquaddar ka Sikander, Laawaris, Namak Halal, Sharaabi, Jaadugar). It also launched the career of Bachchan (along with Mehra), as a top director/actor duo, spanning 2 decades of collaboration.
  • Mehra started in the late 1950s as a production controller.
  • Prakash Mehra was a legendary Bollywood film producer and director.

Biography

Prakash Mehra
Last Updated: Monday, October 19, 2009

Prakash MehraBorn on July 13, 1939 at Biijnaur in U.P Prakash Mehra started career as a production controller in '50.Urge for self-recognition,he launched his debut with Haseena Man Jayegi in '68 to receive boisterous response. After "Mela"with the Khan brothers, he laid the mile-stone of "Angry Young Man" image to replace the chocolate-cream hero-concept with Zanjeer in '73 and the Big-B made his appearence understood and Prakash made his calibre felt.Thenceforth came up "Laawaris","Namak Halal","Sharabi"and underlined acting-flairs of Amitabh.

Other films to reckon with are, "Jawalamukhi","Hera Pheri","Aa Gale Lag ja", "Zindagi Ek Juaa'"Ghungroo" and so on. The awardee of Life Time Achievement by IMPPA in '05 Prakash could not execute his dream-project "The God Connection" with Charles Bronson in Hollywood.His last directorial venture "Bal Brahmachari" was a foil.But Prakash Mehra deconstructed stars like Amitabh and Smita to reconstruct their images anew.On May 17, 2009 he left us all.

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