Saeed Jaffrey to get posthumous Padma Shri honour

New Delhi, Jan 25: Multifaceted India-born British actor Saeed Jaffrey, who passed away last year, was on Monday posthumously med for the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth highest civilian award. Saeed was 86 when he passed away in London in November 2015.

Born in Malerkotla, Punjab, in 1929 in a Punjabi Muslim family, Saeed embarked on his career by starting a theatre company called Unity Theatre in New Delhi in the late 1950s. An articulate and well read artiste, Saeed went on to found his own English language company, Unity Theatre, at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. He also staged plays by English-language masters including William Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams, thus making him the first Indian actor to do so. Thereafter, he went on to join filmdom and carved his own niche in the industry through his powerful performances in films.  (IANS)