Actor Shyam

Shyam (Sunder Shyam Chadda )was  born  on 20 February 1920 and died  on  25 April 1951)He was a wellknown Hindi film actor. He started  his film career in 1942 and worked in many films until his death during the shooting  of the a  film  in 1951.

 originally he hailed from Sialkot but grew up in Rawalpindi. Shyam graduated from Gordon College in Rawalpindi. He was a close l friend of Saadat Hasan Manto and was the inspiration of many of his stories. Even after partition, their bond of friendship continued. One of his most famous movies was Bazaar, released in 1949, in which he starred with Nigar Sultana. He married a Muslim, Mumtaz Qureshi-Taji, with whom he had a daughter and  son named Shakir . Shyam,s  wife migrated to Lahore, Pakistan, after his premature death in 1951, along with her elder sister, Zeb Qureshi, who was an actress in Bombay. Mumtaz later married a gentleman, Ansari after Shyam's death.

Shyam acted in many memorable films: Man ki jeet (1944), Majboor (1948), Dillagi (1949), Patanga (1949), Chandni Raat (1949), Meena Bazaar (1950) and Samadhi (1950). Shyam died on the set of the film Shabistan in 1951 after he fell off a horse during filming. His few remaining scenes were completed with a body-double.

He acted with Munawar Sulltana in many films like Kaneez and Majboor. A highly educated person, Shyam wrote an article for Blitz, a leading film magazine of those times on his favourite heroines.

Even Brihan Mumbai Corporation (BMC) named the place where Shyam stayed in Chembur as Shyam Park, which is also now known as Maitreyi Park. Shyam was definitely the most widely admired heroes of the late 40s. Though younger than Ashok Kumar , he played roles of the latter's elder brother. After Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand , Shyam and Rehman are remembered most for their contribution to the field of Hindi cinema.

Shyam – the screen idol of the forties with his irresistible charm, good looks, style and panache left behind a brief but impressive  work.