Indian Film Actors with Super Star Rajesh Khanna: Raj Babbar

Raj Babbar (Hindi: राज बब्बर, Punjabi: ਰਾਜ ਬੱਬਰ; born 23 June 1952) is a Hindi and Punjabi film actor and politician belonging to Indian National Congress. He has been a three-time member of the Lok Sabha and a two-time member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. He is the current President of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee.

Babbar was born into a Sikh family in Agra, Uttar Pradesh on 23 June 1952. He did his initial schooling from Faiz-E-Aam Inter college, Agra. He is an alumnus of the 1975 batch of the National School of Drama and graduated from Agra College.

He trained in the Method school of acting at NSD, which is involved in Street Theatre. After his training in New Delhi he moved to Mumbai and started his film career with Reena Roy, one of the well known actresses of that time. He gained fame for the movie 'Insaaf Ka Taraazu', in which his was a portrayal of a rapist, who assaults the heroine (Zeenat Aman) and later her sister, and in the end, gets shot for his deeds.

He became a consistent feature of the B. R. Chopra banner; Nikaah with Deepak Parashar and Salma Agha, Aaj Ki Aawaz with Smita Patil.

He also achieved success in Punjabi cinema as he gave remarkable performances in Chann Pardesi (1980), Marhi Da Deeva (1989), and Long Da Lishkara (1986) – three art house movies with serious themes treated in a realistic manner and this was an innovation for Punjabi films field. He also acted in the hit Punjabi films Aasra Pyar Da (1983), Mahaul Theek Hai (1999), Shaheed Uddham Singh (2000), Yaaran Naal Baharan (2005), "Ek Jind Ek Jaan (2006), "Apni Boli Apna Des" (2009), and "Tera Mera Ki Rishta" (2009).

He has also acted in television. He appeared in the introductory episodes of the famous Indian TV series "Mahabharat" (1988), as king Bharat, "Bahadur Shah Zafar" (1986), as Akbar, alongside the then debutant Juhi Chawla, and also in his home production series, "Maharaja Ranjit Singh" (2010), all telecasted in Doordarshan. In 2014 and 2015, He acted in the serial telecasted in Life Ok, "Pukaar - Call For The Hero," directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, with Rannvijay Singh, Adah Sharma and Shubhangi Latkar.

Raj Babbar entered politics by joining Janata Dal in 1989, which was led by V. P. Singh. He later joined Samajwadi Party and was elected as the Member of Parliament of India for three times. From 1994 to 1999 he was a member of Rajya Sabha. He was re-elected in the 14th Lok Sabha elections for the second term in 2004. He was suspended from Samajwadi Party in 2006. Later he joined Indian National Congress in 2008 and was elected for fourth term as Member of Parliament in 2009, by defeating Dimple Yadav wife of Akhilesh Yadav and daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he contested from Ghaziabad and lost to General V K Singh. He has been appointed as the president of Uttar Pradesh congress committee (UPCC) where Congress Party is in the opposition side for the last couple decades. Uttar Pradesh was once a stronghold state for the party.

Raj Babbar, in the capacity of Congress spokesman, created controversy in 2013, by stating that Rs.12 is sufficient to get a full meal for common man in Mumbai, which drew severe criticism. He also said that a poor person in India can get full meals two times a day, within Rs. 28 to 32 and opposition parties termed Raj Babbar's statement as laughable. Later, he regretted his comments. In July 2013, he compared Narendra Modi to Adolf Hitler which also created controversy.

Raj Babbar married Nadira Zaheer, daughter of noted theatre personality Sajjad Zaheer. Arya Babbar and Juhi Babbar are his children from Nadira. He then married actress Smita Patil who gave birth to their son Prateik Babbar.[citation needed] He has two younger brothers, Kishan and Vinod (dead) and four younger sisters. He launched his own home production Babbar Films Pvt. Ltd. along with his brother Kishan. Under this he has produced two feature films, Karm Yodha (1992), Kaash Aap Hamare Hote (2003), and the serial "Maharaja Ranjit Singh" (2010).

1981: nomination: Filmfare Best Actor Award for Insaaf Ka Tarazu

1984: nomination: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Agar Tum Na Hote

1985: nomination: Filmfare Best Actor Award for Aaj Ki Awaaz

1994: nomination: Filmfare Best Villain Award for Dalaal

1996: nomination: Filmfare Best Villain Award for Yaraana

Raj Babbar's Filmography with Super Star Rajesh Khanna :