Entertainment: There have been many actors in Hindi cinema who fought for independence on screen and sacrificed for the country, but there have been very few actors who have shown the courage to fight against the British rule in reality.

AK Hangal is one such artist who had participated in the freedom struggle before entering films. Hangal, who was active in the freedom movement from 1929 until independence, joined the theatre in Peshawar in 1936 and participated in many plays.

Debut with Raj Kapoor

After independence, Hangal shifted to Mumbai, where he joined IPTA along with Balraj Sahni and Kaifi Azmi. After working in theatre till 1965, he started his career in cinema in 1966 with Raj Kapoor's film Teesri Kasam.In the film, he played the role of Raj Kapoor's elder brother. After this, he became such a face of Hindi cinema, who was famous for his natural and simple acting. The interesting aspect is that at the time of his debut in films, he was 52 years old. Hangal, who has worked with many generations of artists, became a part of many classic films in the seventies and eighties. He did the maximum number of 16 films with Rajesh Khanna.

The first film of both was Bawarji, which was released in 1972. In the film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, AK Hangal played the role of the eldest son of the family in which Rajesh Khanna goes as a cook. 

He became famous as Sholay's Rahim Chacha

Hangal played many character roles in his career. Sometimes he played a doctor, sometimes the heroine's father, sometimes the hero's brother, sometimes a college principal, sometimes a lawyer, but the fame that the character of Rahim Chacha in Sholay gave him, he did not get from any other role. The character of Imam Sahab became his biggest identity. His line in this film, "Itna sannata kyun hai bhai..." proved to be iconic and is used even today in different contexts.