Happy Birthday, Alok Nath: How Bollywood’s ‘Babuji’ Rose To Prominence

Alok Nath, also known as Sanskaari Babuji, is an Indian Bollywood actor well known for his contribution to 300 films in his career. He stepped into the filmland in 1982 and played many roles from small screen to big screen. He mostly played the role of father in most of his films. Today is the 68th birthday of this brilliant actor.

Making an identity during the period of the 70s and 80s, travelling from Bihar’s capital Patna to Maya Nagri was not an easy task for Alok Nath. He created his own identity in Bollywood through a lot of struggles and sacrifices. From Hum Apke Hain Koun to Hum Saath Saath hai, he has become the perfect example of an on-screen father figure, who is polite and full of virtues.

According to media reports, Alok Nath’s father never wanted his son to become an actor. He wanted his son to become a doctor like him, but fate had something else in store.

Initially, in an interview with Stardust, the actor claimed that he always wanted to become an actor from the beginning. His desire to act made him take admission to the National School of Drama. This is the same place where he also got his first break in the 1982 film Gandhi while learning acting at the National School of Drama for which he also got Rs 20,000. When he handed over his first salary to his father, his father was quite surprised. At that time, his father’s salary was only Rs 10,000. Alok Nath made him proud by earning twice as much as him. He was praised by his father for choosing acting as his career. He was happy that his son chose the career that he always dreamed of, instead of becoming a doctor. Later, the actor was supported by his father to move forward in this field.

He also faced several hurdles when he first came to Mumbai. After a lot of struggles, he got work in films like Mashal, Saransh, Vivah etc. His popularity started to rise when he worked in Salman Khan’s movie, Maine Pyar Kiya, playing the role of Karan, the father of the actress Bhagyashree. After this, he got famous for his role of Babuji in Bollywood.

He was also very romantic as a person in his youth. According to media reports, he once fell in love with the famous actress of the 80s – Neena Gupta – and wanted to marry her. They worked together on a television serial Buniyaad. According to reports, while working together the two grew close and fell in love. But the rumoured relationship did not last long as Alok Nath’s father never accepted their love to blossom. The couple parted ways before the end of the show. Later he got married to Ashu Singh in 1987.