Over the year, several promising Bollywood actors proved their mettle in the West. When cinema buffs recall Indian stars who appeared in Hollywood films, one could think of the late actor Irrfan Khan who started the trend followed by Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra. However, these actors do not hold the Guinness World Records for doing most international films. The prestigious record belongs to Saeed Jaffrey.
The veteran actor has appeared in 18 international films including Gandhi, Masala, A Passage to India, and My Beautiful Launderette among several others. Guinness' citation about Saeed Jaffrey's record says, "He made his film debut in the 1977 Indian film The Chess Players (Shatranj Ke Khiladi) and has appeared in almost 100 Hindi films and one Punjabi film. In 1998 Jaffrey opted out of Indian commercial cinema in favour of acting in international films and on British television. He recently became part of the first Asian family to feature regularly in the United Kingdom’s longest-running soap opera, Coronation Street.”
Saeed Jaffrey's career
The British-Indian actor has appeared in multiple TV serials and Indian cinema. He started his acting career in theatre in the 1950s. However, he rose to prominence with Satyajit Ray's Shatranj Ke Khilari in 1977. He bagged the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in 1978. He then appeared in a cameo role in Chashme Buddoor followed by Raj Kapoor's Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Henna, and others.
Jaffrey also became the first Asian to get nominated for British and Canadian film award nominations. He passed away on November 15, 2015, after he collapsed at his London residence from a brain haemorrhage. Following his death, he was honoured with the Padma Shri award posthumously in 2016.
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