During the year, several promising Bollywood actors proved their mettle in the West. When cinema lovers remember Indian stars appearing in Hollywood films, one might think of late actor Irrfan Khan, who started the trend, followed by Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra, However, these actors do not hold the Guinness World Record for doing most international films. The prestigious record is in the name of Saeed Jaffrey.
The veteran actor has appeared in 18 international films including Gandhi, Masala, A Passage to India and My Beautiful Laundrette. The Guinness quote about Saeed Jaffrey’s record states, “He made his film debut in 1977 with the Indian film The Chess Players (शातरंज के खेलिडर) and has appeared in nearly 100 Hindi films and one Punjabi film. In 1998 Jaffrey left Indian commercial cinema in favor of acting in international films and British television. He recently became part of the first Asian family to appear regularly in the United Kingdom’s longest-running soap opera, Coronation Street. .
Saeed Jafri’s career
British-Indian actor has appeared in several TV serials and Indian cinema. He started his acting career in theater in the 1950s. However, he rose to fame in 1977 with Satyajit Ray’s film Shatranj Ke Khiladi. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1978 for his role. He then appeared in a cameo role in Chashme Baddoor, followed by Raj Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Henna, and others.
Jaffrey also became the first Asian to be nominated for British and Canadian Film Award nominations. He died on 15 November 2015 at his London residence after suffering a brain haemorrhage. After his death, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Shri award in 2016.
Read also: Jawan preview out: Shah Rukh Khan will steal your heart once again in Atlee’s film