One of my friend who loves watching old hindi films tells me that he often gets confused between Murad and Sapru. Not only because of their looks, but also because of the similar kind of characters they played on screen. Here are some details on the works of two wonderful character artists of Indian cinema – Murad and D K Sapru.

Murad in Mirza Ghalib (1954)

Murad started his career with Najma (1943) and worked in over 100 films over the next five decades. His usual roles were that of father, judge, emperor, zamindar or police commissioner. In fact he played the role of Ashok Kumar’s father in Najma – his first film. He played the role of Deputy saheb – the girls father in Mehboob Khan’s Anmol Ghadi (1946) which was a musical hit starring Surendra, NoorJahan and Suraiya.
Some of his other well known films include Andaz (1949), Deedar (1951), Aan(1952), Do Bigha Zameen (1953), Mirza Ghalib(1954) , Amar(1954) , Devdas(1955) and K Asif’s magnum opus Mughal-E-Azam where he played the role of Raja Mann Singh.
Murad passed away sometime in the late 1990’s.His son Raza Murad is also a well known actor.

D K Sapru as Judge

Daya Kishan Sapru (1916-79) or Sapru was a Kashmiri pandit and went on to become a popular character artist from 1940’s till 1970’s.His debut film was the Prabhat Films marathi production RamShastri(1944).

Sapru in Jewel Thief

He then moved over to hindi films and played various roles such as Judge , Police Commissioner and zamindar ; just like Murad.

His notable films include Kalapani (1958), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam(1962) ,Jewel Thief(1967) and Pakeezah(1972).
His role in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam is still remembered by film lovers as he portrayed the role of the menacing Zamindar – Majhle Sarkar, the head of the haveli. Speaking very few lines but relying more on his intimidating presence, Majhle Sarkar ultimately orders the killing of choti bahu , the central character of the film.