Puneet Issar

Personal life

Puneet is the son of film director Sudesh Issar. He is also a trained artist and an 8th degree black belt holder.

He belongs to a Punjabi Hindu family which migrated from Pakistan following the 1947 partition.

He is married to Deepali, the daughter of actor Daljeet Puri and sister of actor Satyajeet Puri. She has written the films Garv: Pride and Honour (2004) and I Am Singh (2011) both directed by Puneet. The couple has two children, daughter Nivriti Issar and son Siddhant Issar. Siddhant is also an actor.

Issar is a fitness and gym enthusiast. He also made some positive headlines for fitness at the age of 60.

Career

Issar has starred as a villain in over 150 films, such as Zakhmi Aurat, Kal Ki Aawaz, Palay Khan, Teja, Prem Shakti and opposite stars like Mohanlal, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. He also played a villain in the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Ram Jaane. He appeared in the hit war film Border. He played the role of Parashurama in 2013 Mahabharata and Duryodhana in the epic TV series Mahabharat (1988–1990) which brought him mainstream popularity.

He played the Indian Superman, a Bollywood version of the Hollywood films. He played the second lead in the cult Indian horror film Purana Mandir in 1983. Later he did many other horror movies such as Tehkhana in the 1980s.

He also starred in movies such as Krrish, Partner, Aryan, Bachna Ae Haseeno and many more in the 2000s.

In 1982, he was involved in an on-shoot incident with Amitabh Bachchan during the shoot of Coolie. He accidentally injured Amitabh, nearly fatally, and suffered the industry's backlash due to it. He later admitted that he had to face a lot of problems in getting roles in movies and he also lost 7-8 films due to the notoriety of the incident. He also went out of work for 6 years.

He has also directed TV serials such as Hindustani and Jai Mata Ki starring Hema Malini. and in a few Telugu films. He has also given a brilliant display of his acting skills in the mythological film Suryaputra Shanidev, which was released in 1997.

In 2004, Issar directed the film Garv: Pride and Honour starring Salman Khan and Shilpa Shetty in lead roles. The opening collections of the film were good, and overall it was declared "Above Average" at the box office. His latest directorial venture I Am Singh, the story of which is also written by him, released in December 2011. It is based on the stories about the Sikh immigrants in the USA after the 11 September attacks.

In the Indian TV reality show Bigg Boss season 8, in 2014/2015, Issar was one of the 7 finalists. He was evicted from the show on 3 January 2015. Issar lasted in the house for 105 days. At 56, he was the oldest contestant to do so and lasted the entire season in the house. He played the role of "Daar ji" in Choti Sarrdaarni.

In 2022, Issar played DGP Hari Narain in The Kashmir Files, a film based on the Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.

Filmography

Films

Hindi

Telugu

Punjabi

Kannada

Bengali

Tamil

Malayalam

Marathi

Television

Other credits

References

References

1. Bhandari, Kabir Singh. (6 November 2019). "Puneet Issar on playing Duryodhana again and his passion for gyming at 60". Hindustan Times.
2. Murthy, Neeraja. (17 December 2019). "Puneet Issar is still mighty 'Duryodhan' for viewers". The Hindu.
3. (28 September 2016). "Puneet Issar on playing the ANTI-HERO". Hindustan Times.
4. Biswas, Sneha. (24 May 2025). "Meet actor who left Amitabh Bachchan clinically dead, lost 10 films, went out of work for 6 years: 'People were afraid'".
5. Chakraborty, Juhi. (6 February 2021). "All the actors from Mahabharat are stuck in their image from 30 years ago, but I kept breaking my image says Puneet Issar". Hindustan Times.
6. (5 June 2021). "Puneet Issar to enter Choti Sarrdaarni, says the role is tailor made for me".
7. (29 November 2020). "It feels sad to see Sanatan Dharma being made fun of".
8. (27 March 2022). "Indore: Actor Punit Issar main draw at Rotary function".
9. (28 June 2020). "Puneet Issar feels that isolation period was more interesting than his Bigg Boss stay". The Times of India.
10. (18 December 2014). "Puneet Issar's daughter Nivriti claims tweet about Karishma Tanna was from a fake account". The Indian Express.
11. (26 August 2020). "ये है महाभारत के दुर्योधन का बेटा, पुनीत इस्सर की तरह सिद्धांत इस्सर भी निभा चुके दुर्योधन का आइकॉनिक रोल". Times Now.
12. (17 August 2012). "Time to workout - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com.
13. (30 June 2000). "rediff.com, Movies: A very human story". M.rediff.com.
14. (2 December 2005). "I am praying for him again". The Times of India.
15. (1 July 2004). "The producers thought Garv would never release". Rediff.com.
16. (12 January 2022). "Sands Of Time - Part 4 {{!}} Bollywood's Affair With Superman: When Duryodhan Became Clark Kent". Outlook.
17. (30 October 2020). "Halloween Special: Puneet Issar on his horror movie experience with Purana Mandir". Free Press Journal.
18. (4 April 2022). "90 दशक की रामसे ब्रदर्स की वो हॉरर फिल्में, जिन्होंने बचपन में ख़ूब डराया {{!}} Ramsay Brothers Horror Movies". Patrika News.
19. (12 September 2021). "कुली हादसे के बाद ऐसे थी Amitabh Bachchan-Puneet Issar की पहली मुलाकात, पत्नी ने भी दिया था बिग बी को खून". [[Times Now]].
20. "Bengali Director Puneet Issar Biography, News, Photos, Videos".
21. "Box Office 2004".
22. Webster, Andy. (2 December 2011). "A Family's Irreparable Loss for the Crime of Being Sikh". New York Times.
23. "'I Am Singh' is about Sikhs targeted post 9/11: Puneet Issar". DNA India.
24. (2 December 2011). "My resolve to make I Am Singh became stronger...: Puneet Issar". The Times of India.
25. (7 June 2021). "Puneet Issar to enter Choti Sarrdaarni". Tribune.
26. (5 April 2022). "Twinkle Khanna mocks The Kashmir Files craze, says 'going to make Nail Files about disastrous manicure'". India Today.
27. "Maa Kasam Badla Loonga Movie Trailer, Star Cast, Release Date, Box Office, Movie Review {{!}} Maa Kasam Badla Loonga Movie budget and Collection {{!}} Maa Kasam Badla Loonga".
28. (3 July 2007). "Chandrahas review".
29. . (16 August 1999). ["Jai Ma Hema ki"](https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/eyecatchers/story/19990816-hema-malini-to-play-goddess-in-puneet-issars-forthcoming-teleserial-jai-mata-ki-824451-1999-08-15). *[[Living Media]]*.