This Yesteryear Bollywood Artist Holds Guinness World Record For ‘The Most Type-cast Actor’

Cinema has been in a constant state of evolution since its inception. Filmmaking techniques keep changing and evolving with every passing decade. What used to be a trend in cinema a few decades back may not work now. Talking of Hindi cinema, one aspect that has gone almost extinct in the last few years is the concept of typecasting. Years ago, actors used to be typecast, playing tailor-made roles in almost every film. The same actor would carry out similar acts of villainy in numerous films, and comedians would only stick to comedy, but things have changed a lot now.

Since we are talking about typecasting, it is interesting to note that a Hindi cinema actor holds the Guinness World Record for being the most type-cast actor in the world. Remember Jagdish Raj Khurana? The tall and suave actor wore the police uniform with distinguished panache, bringing dignity to his many cop roles in films like CID, Kanoon, Waqt, Roti, Ittefaq, Safar and Don. Jagadish Raj slipped into his police inspector persona so well, that he has played a cop in a record 144 films. This feat earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most type-cast actor. He also holds the Limca Book of Records record for the most memorable police officer ever.

By the year 1992, Jagdish Raj had distanced himself from films. By that time, his daughter Anita Raj had also been a successful actress in the Hindi film industry. She debuted opposite Raj Babbar in the 1981 film Prem Geet. The ghazal Hothon Se Chhu Lo Tum was picturised on her and made her instantly famous. Throughout the 80s and till the mid-90s, Anita Raj appeared in a slew of successful movies. Her pairing with Dharmendra was most appreciated in films like Naukar Biwi Ka, Jeene Nahi Doonga and Ghulami. Anita Raj is known to be a fitness enthusiast now, who engages in High Interval training cardio, lifts weights and performs Yoga, boasting of an enviable physique at 60.

Jagdish Raj Khurana passed away in 2013, aged 85, due to respiratory ailments.