Ulhas (actor)

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Ulhas (born M. N. Kaul; 1913 – 14 July 1969) was an Indian actor, who played character roles in Hindi cinema from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. However, since he died in 1969, many of his films were released after his death.

Ulhas was born as M N Kaul at Ajmer in a Kashmiri Pandit family in the year 1913 to Chand Bahadur Kaul, who in turn was the brother of Kamla Nehru. This makes Ulhas, the first cousin of Indira Gandhi who was the third Prime Minister of India.^[1] He was also distantly related to actor Prem Adib. After completing his formal education, Ulhas left for Poona with the help of Prem Adib to try his luck in the Hindi film industry.

Ulhas came to Poona in search of work in 1935. After the initial struggle, he soon got his first film titled Wahan, with the help of fellow actor Chandra Mohan, who also happened to be another Kashmiri Pandit. Wahan was being made under the banner of Prabhat Film Company headed by V. Shantaram and directed by K Narayan Kale. Ulhas came into prominence with Basant (1942) in which he was cast opposite Mumtaz Shanti. Coincidentally, another Mumtaz was signed in the film who played the role of Ulhas's daughter. This Mumtaz went on to become legendary actress Madhubala.^[2][3]

Even after being cast as the leading hero, Ulhas continued playing supporting roles. Some of his prominent films are Parbat Pe Apna Dera, Do Bhai, Jhansi Ki Rani, Laila Majnu, Amar, Nastik, Mirza Ghalib and Kundan. For his performance in Kundan, he was also nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category at the 3rd Filmfare Awards. A regular feature in V. Shantaram's films, he appeared in Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani, Dahej, Surang, Do Aankhen Barah Haath, Navrang and Sehra. His filmography also has films like Guide, Sunghursh, Prince, Prem Pujari and Heer Ranjha.^[4]

Ulhas died in 1969 when many of his films were pending for their release. The film Prem Pujari refers to him as "Late Ulhas" in its credits.^[5] Ulhas's final film was Sawaal which released almost 13 years after his untimely death.

For his work in Kundan, Ulhas was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor; it was the only nomination he ever received.

Ulhas appeared in more than a hundred films, some of which are listed below

• Ulhas at IMDb
• 3rd Filmfare awards