Clicking on the following links or images will take you to the Hindi movie collections of the performers covered in this section:
During the Golden Age of Hindi films, there was a unique category of performers who were as well known as the leading men but who acted in supporting roles. I have classified these artistes as ‘character actors’, a broad category which includes the roles of good guys (benevolent elder, hero’s friend, etc.) as well as villains.
In the early part of the Golden Age (1949-1960), the most well-known character actors were Ajit, Ashok Kumar, Balraj Sahni, Premnath and Pran. In the latter part of the Golden Age (1961-1980), the best-known character actors were Amjad Khan, Amrish Puri, Danny Denzongpa, Girish Karnad and Shatrughan Sinha. Starting in the late 1960s, many of these character actors played villainous roles which were often much juicier than the roles of the leading men and received top billing.
This prolific and versatile group of actors collectively created an extraordinary collection of high-quality Hindi movies movies which will last through the ages. The links above (listed in alphabetical order) will take you to the collected works of these artistes.