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{{Use Indian English|date=February 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}
''' Irshad Panjatan''' (born 7 September 1931) is an Indian actor and veteran [[mime artist]], based in Berlin, who introduced the art form to India during the 1960s. He started his career as stage actor, acted in few Bollywood films, and later received acclaim as mime artist. He toured through West-Asian and European countries in 1971, which led him to [[Berlin]], where he settled down. Over the years he has even acted in a few Hollywood and German films, ''[[Manitou's Shoe]]'' (2001), ''[[Free Rainer]]'' (2007), ''God is No Soprano'' (2003) and ''[[Iron Sky]]'' (2012).

==Early life and family==
Panjatan was born in [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]], where he grew up with seven siblings, including his elder brother, Dr. [[Abid Hussain]] (1926 – 2012), who later became an economist, civil servant and diplomat.<ref name=hin>{{cite news |title=Silent emotions |author=Prabalika M. Borah| url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/article3633434.ece?textsize=large&test=1 |work= The Hindu|date=13 July 2012 |access-date=2 May 2013}}</ref>

==Career==
Panjatan started his career as an aviation engineer, however he left the city for Delhi in 1950 to pursue his passion for theatre and acting.<ref name=hinjuly13/> He trained in [[Kathakali]] under Raghavan Nair and later under Narendra Sharma, a disciple of [[Uday Shankar]].<ref name=toi>{{cite news |title=Irshad - a master teller of tales without words |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-12-06/pune/27947154_1_mime-silence-dance|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130629122027/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-12-06/pune/27947154_1_mime-silence-dance|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 June 2013|date=6 December 2008 |work=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=2 May 2013}}</ref> He started his career as an actor with the Hindustani Theatre, the theatre group of Begum Qudsia Zaidi. In 1957, he enacted a night theft scene in play ''Charudatta'', in which he used no dialogues. However, a review of ''[[Marg (magazine)|Marg]]'' magazine, called it "..very good Pantomime",<ref>In India word "[[pantomime]]" is often used for [[mime]].</ref> this intrigued him and ventured into learning the art form. Soon, he happened to see a local mime artist perform on the streets of Delhi, and in the next hour he learned all that he could from him, and started practicing and improvising on his own.<ref name=hinjuly13>{{cite news |title=Silent emotions |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/silent-emotions/article3633419.ece |work=The Hindu |date=13 July 2012 |access-date=3 May 2013}}</ref>

He performed his first mime play in 1962 in Delhi, thus introducing mime to India in the 1960s, which earned him wide acclaimed.<ref name=hin/><ref name=toi/> Hindustani Theatre closed and he began to focus mainly on mime, though he also acted in a few Bollywood films during this period, including [[K.A. Abbas]]'s ''[[Saat Hindustani]]'' (1969), wherein he played a role of a Portuguese spy.<ref>{{cite book |title=I Am Not an Island: An Experiment in Autobiography|author=Khwaja Ahmad Abbas |author-link=Khwaja Ahmad Abbas|publisher=Vikas Publishing House|year=1977|isbn= 070690477X |pages=489 }}</ref>

Though trained in the [[Marcel Marceau]] style, he developed his individualistic style and language, and soon he started touring with his solo mime act. The [[Films Division]] also made some public service documentary with him, including ''Kilonewala'' (1971) and ''Six, Five, Four, Three, Two'' (on Family Planning), before he left for his tour outside India, to West Asian and European countries.<ref>''Cultural News from India'', Volumes 12-13. by [[Indian Council for Cultural Relations]], Pub: Indian Council for Public Relations., 1971. ''p. 14, 24''.</ref> After leaving India, he first performed at the [[Lahore College for Women|Lahore Women's college]] and eventually reached Germany where he later settled,<ref name=hin/> and has continued performing as a solo artist ever since.<ref name=toi/><ref name=exp08>{{cite news |title=The language of silence|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/The-language-of-silence/394979 |publisher= Indian Express|date=6 December 2008 |access-date=2 May 2013}}</ref> Over the years, he has acted in a few German and Hollywood films, ''Iron Sky'' and ''God is no Soprano'', ''Der Schuh des Manitu'' (Manitou's Shoe) (2001), ''Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairy Tale'' (2003) and ''Reclaim Your Brain'' (2007) <ref>{{cite news |title=Irshad Panjatan: Filmography |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/1074366/Irshad-Panjatan/filmography |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130630013125/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/1074366/Irshad-Panjatan/filmography |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 June 2013 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |publisher=[[Baseline (database)|Baseline]] & [[All Movie Guide]] |access-date=3 May 2013}}</ref><ref name=nexp/>

He married Ingrid Sattler in 1975, and opened a mime school in Berlin,<ref>''Film World'', Volume 17, T.M. Ramachandran, 1980. ''p. 14''.</ref> where he continues to live. He gave his last mime performance in December 2008 in Pune at the annual 'Theatre Beyond Words' festival organized by [[Amol Palekar]], where he performed his solo act, 'Walk of Life'.<ref name=toi/><ref name=exp08/> Five years later in July 2012, while visiting family in his home town, he gave a lecture-demonstration on mime in Hyderabad at Lamakaan.<ref name=nexp>{{cite news |title=Speaking language of silence |url=http://newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/article559489.ece |publisher=New Indian Express |date=6 July 2012 |access-date=3 May 2013}}</ref>

==Filmography==
===Film===
* ''Aasmaan Mahal'' (1965)
* ''[[Bambai Raat Ki Bahon Mein]]'' (1967) - Sevakram
* ''[[Saat Hindustani]]'' (1969) <ref>{{cite web |title=Irshad Panjatan |url=http://movies.in.msn.com/actor.aspx?P_PersonID=85443 |publisher=MSN MOovies |access-date=3 May 2013 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* ''[[Heer Raanjha]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Chhoti Bahu]]'' (1971) - Servant
* ''[[Bikhre Moti]]'' (1971) - Raju
* ''[[Der Schuh des Manitu]]'' (2001, Manitou's Shoe) - Häuptling Listiger Lurch
* ''Der Ärgermacher'' (2003, The Troublemaker) - Der Inder
* ''God is No Soprano'' (2003)
* ''[[Kebab Connection]]'' (2004) - Indischer Taxifahrer
* ''[[Free Rainer]] '' (2007, [[Reclaim Your Brain]]) - Gopal
* ''[[Iron Sky]]'' (2012) - Indian Representative
* ''[[The Physician (2013 film)|The Physician]]'' (2013) - Pharmacist
* ''Marry Me - Aber bitte auf Indisch'' (2015) - Ankur
* ''[[Buddha's Little Finger (film)|Buddha's Little Finger]]'' (2015) - Buddha
* ''Bullyparade: Der Film'' (2017) - Costa

===Television===
* ''Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairy Tale'' (2003, TV Movie) - Flunky

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0659546}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panjatan, Irshad}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian male stage actors]]
[[Category:Male actors in Hindi cinema]]
[[Category:Indian mimes]]
[[Category:Male actors from Hyderabad, India]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Germany]]
[[Category:Indian male film actors]]

Irshad Panjatan - Revision history

UpdateBot at 06:14, 24 June 2022