Keshto Mukherjee

Keshto Mukherjee (Bengali: কেষ্টো মুখোপাধ্যায়; died 1982) was an Indian film actor and comedian. He specialised in comic drunkard roles in the Hindi films. Though he was famous for his drunkard typecast role in Hindi films, he used to share a very good relation with the iconic director Ritwik Ghatak and had very tiny but important roles in the maestro's films such as the trickster in Bari Theke Paliye, the madman in Ajantrik or character roles in Nagarik and Jukti Takko Aar Gappo.

Mukherjee was brought to the Indian film industry by the film maker Ritwik Ghatak. His debut film was in 1952 in Nagarik, a Bengali movie by Ghatak. He acted in the role of a street dancer in Musafir. The film was the directorial debut of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. It was Asit Sen who offered Keshto Mukherjee the role of a typical drunkard in the movie Maa Aur Mamta (1970). Since then, Mukherjee acted in typical drunkard roles for the rest of his career, with the exception of just a few movies. In Teesri Kasam, he acted with Raj Kapoor. In Sadhu aur Shaitaan, he was one of the cronies of Kishore Kumar. He performed a similar role in the movie Padosan. In Mehmood's movie Bombay to Goa, his role of a dozing passenger was a popular one. In the movie Mere Apne (1971), Keshto appears as a political leader misleading the local toughs in order to win in an election. In Parichay (1974), he appeared as the private tutor to a group of naughty children who terrify him by setting a turtle with a lighted candle on its back. In Zanjeer, Aap Ki Kasam and Sholay Keshto Mukherjee's performances have left long-lasting impressions. In personal life he was a teetotaler.