The celebrity Bhagwan Dada, who had a bungalow and seven cars yet spent his last days in a chawl
The late actor Bhagwan Abhaji Palav, well known by his stage name Bhagwan Dada, celebrates his 110th birthday on August 1. He was a legendary figure in Hindi film and possessed a large home with 25 rooms in Juhu. Bhagwan Dada was believed to be one of the most paid performers in his peak and he possessed 7 luxury vehicles. Raj Kapoor referred to him as the “Indian Michael Douglas” because of the antics he pulled off.
The idea of body duplicates was initially introduced to the business by Bhagwan Dada. Do you know that Bhagwan Dada had to spend his whole life in a chawl since his latter days were so unfortunate? Let’s look at his life biography on this auspicious day.
Amravati, Maharashtra, is where Bhagwan Dada was born. His father was a worker at a textile industry. Due to his lack of academic motivation, Bhagwan left school after the fourth grade. Like his father, he too began working in the textile factories. Bhagwan Dada enjoyed watching movies, and with the aid of his buddy Baburao Pehelwan, he was able to get his first acting role in the movie Bewafa Aashiq. Along with performing, he continued to hone his filmmaking abilities, and in 1938, he co-directed the movie Bahadur Kisan. Later, he established his own production company, Jagriti Pictures, under which he created low-cost action movies. His movie Vanamohini is regarded as a game-changer in Indian cinema history.
He is also credited with producing Bhedi Bangla, the country’s first horror film. According to reports, one of the most well-known musicals of the time was Bhagwan Dada’s Albela. In 1951, it was also the third-highest earning film in India. He also helmed films like Jhamela and Bhagam Bhag, although his run of success was short-lived. He had to sell his opulent home and his collection of luxury vehicles in order to survive when his following movies bombed at the box office. He moved into a two-room chawl in Dadar and passed away on February 4, 2002, at home from major heart attack.
