Birbal, The Comedian Who Made Us Laugh Out Loud For 5 Decades, Dies At 84; 4 Of His Best Performances

Veteran actor Satinder Kumar Khosla better known as Birbal, passed away at 84, after a massive cardiac arrest, on September 12. As per an ANI report, Birbal’s last rites would be performed on September 13 (Wednesday).

Singh was born in Gurdaspur, Punjab in 1933. He made his celluloid debut with the 1967 movie ‘Upkar’. He has appeared in more than 500 films in several languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, etc. However, he is still best known for playing a jail inmate in the 1975 blockbuster ‘Sholay’. Here are some of his most memorable films.

Birbal made a small yet memorable appearance as a traffic police officer in this 1974 action drama. Directed by Manoj Kumar, ‘Roti Kapada Aur Makaan’ also starred Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Moushumi Chatterjee, and Zeenat Aman along with Manoj Kumar.

This remains one of Birbal’s most loved performances. He essayed the role of a prison inmate in this Ramesh Sippy-helmed action extravaganza. Termed as Bollywood’s answer to Hollywood’s Spaghetti (aka cowboy) genre and the ‘Indian Star Wars’ by BBC, ‘Sholay’ is one of the most memorable films of all time. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Jaya Bhaduri, and Hema Malini in lead roles.

Birbal’s brilliant performance as a drug addict in this Shakti Samanta directorial won him plenty of accolades. The romantic drama was a remake of the 1963 Uttam Kumar-starrer ‘Deya Neya’ and featured Rajesh Khanna and Simple Kapadia in lead roles.

Birbal also appeared in this iconic Kamal Haasan-Sridevi film. He played a character called Shyamu.