Bharat Bhushan made a mistake by following his brother's advice: He became a pauper after investing money in films, even sold his house and cars, used to earn his living as a junior artist.

Today is the 32nd death anniversary of Bharat Bhushan, one of the best actors of yesteryear. He is counted among the best actors of Hindi cinema. In the 50s, he played many classic characters like Kavi Kalidas, Baiju Bawra, Mirza Ghalib.

There was a craze for Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar in that period but despite this, Bharat Bhushan managed to achieve the popularity he deserved.

He worked in about thirty films and tried his hand at film production, which proved to be difficult for him. The money and wealth he had earned through acting, he lost by investing in films and became dependent on every penny. How Bharat Bhushan came to the floor from heaven, let's take a look at his life…

Became an actor against his father's wishes

Bharat Bhushan's full name was Bharat Bhushan Gupta. He was born on June 14, 1920 in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Father Raibahadur Motilal was a government lawyer. Bharat Bhushan's mother died when he was two years old. After this, Bharat Bhushan along with his elder brother went to Aligarh to live with his grandfather.

Here, after his schooling, he graduated from Dharam Samaj College. Bharat Bhushan's father wanted him to become a lawyer like him but it did not happen. Going against his father's wishes, after his studies, Bharat Bhushan first went to Calcutta and then moved to Mumbai to step into the world of acting.

Got recognition from Baiju Bawra

He got a chance to debut in films with the film Chitralekha in 1941. He also got a lot of appreciation for the film 'Bhakt Kabir' released in 1941, although he struggled for almost ten years to make his mark in the film industry.

He got the status he deserved from the film 'Baiju Bawra' released in 1952. The songs sung by Mohammed Rafi in this film appealed to Bharat Bhushan very well. Apart from this, he played iconic characters like poet Kalidas, Tansen, Kabir, Mirza Ghalib and became one of the top actors of the 60s. His pairing with Madhubala in films was much liked. Both of them had worked together in films like 'Barsaat Ki Raat', 'Phagun' and 'Gateway of India'.

Wanted to marry Madhubala

According to media reports, Bharat Bhushan had started liking Madhubala and even wanted to marry her but it could not happen. He was married to Sarala, daughter of Raibahadur Buddha Prakash, a big landowner of Meerut. They had two daughters – Anuradha and Aparajita.

Bharat Bhushan's wife Sarla died around 1960 due to pregnancy complications while giving birth to their second daughter. In 1967, Bharat Bhushan again married actress Ratna. Both of them worked together in the film 'Barsaat Ki Raat'. Ratna used to be in the news during that period by playing the role of sister or friend of actresses.

One wrong decision and Bharat Bhushan was ruined

The 60s was the period when Bharat Bhushan was at the peak of his career. Within no time he bought many bungalows in Mumbai. He first bought Ashirwad Bungalow in a posh area of ​​Mumbai which he later sold to Rajendra Kumar.

This bungalow proved lucky for Rajendra Kumar. This lucky bungalow was then bought by Rajesh Khanna. Bharat Bhushan bought many properties in Mumbai and also had a collection of many expensive cars. He had a collection of one lakh books because he was very fond of reading books. Bharat Bhushan was very happy in his life but then a wrong decision brought him down from the throne.

Actually, his brother Rameshchandra Gupta gave him the idea of ​​investing money in films. Bharat Bhushan agreed to his request and invested money in two films 'Basant Bahar' and 'Barsaat Ki Raat'. These films were superhit and Bharat Bhushan became richer.

After this his brother asked him to invest more money in films. This time also Bharat Bhushan agreed to his request and invested the money but this time the bet backfired. All the films on which he invested money flopped and Bharat Bhushan became bankrupt. He even had to sell his property and cars because he had no money left to survive. His acting career had also gone on downfall and there was no source of income.

Even became a junior artist to earn his living

In an interview, Bharat Bhushan had talked about his penniless days and had said that in his bad days when he had no work, a producer came to him and said, 'There is a role of a junior artist in my film, If you want to do it, then come to the set, I had no choice and I had to do that role to earn a living.

At the last moment I said – Not everyone knows how to live and I certainly did not know how to live.

According to his daughter Aparajita, after selling the bungalow and car, Bharat Bhushan had bought a flat in Mumbai and his last days were spent there. He started falling ill and spent his last days in financial crunch, however, even in bad times, he did not lend his hand to anyone and used to earn his living by doing small jobs.

According to media reports, when he died on January 27, 1992, there was no one to shoulder his coffin but according to daughter Aparajita, it was not so and his last rites were performed well.

Bharat Bhushan had said in his last moments – “Everyone knows death, but not everyone knows how to live.” And I didn't understand at all. At the same time, according to Aparajita, she had met her father 15 days before her death in which she had said – My pack-up is done.