Praveen Kumar is most famous for his role of Bheem in the legendary Indian TV series of Mahabharata. In addition, he has appeared in more than 50 movies, almost always as the big henchman of the villain, because of his physique. Though few people know that he was an athlete before he was an actor. Here are some fun facts about him that you would sure like to know:
His full name is Praveen Kumar Sobti.The height of Praveen Kumar is 6'6" (198 cm)
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Praveen Kumar as a villain in some unknown movie. |
- Has 4 brothers and a sister.
- He is originally from Punjab.
- He is big, about four inches taller than Amitabh Bachchan, making him one of the tallest actors in the history of Indian cinema. In the movie Shahenshah, he was described as being six and a half feet tall and weighing 120 kg, which seems correct. Therefore, his height is 6’6” and weight 265 lbs.
- He was an athlete before he was an actor. He was a discus thrower, as an athlete he won four medals at the Asian Games, including two gold medals, including the Arjun award in 1967. He competed in two Olympics too.
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| Praveen Kumar receiving the Arjuna Award. |
- His son works for India's airline, Jet Airway.
- As surprising as it sounds, his daughter Nipunika Sobti was once engaged to Akshay Kumar.
- Praveen Kumar is popularly known as Bheem in India, for his depiction of the legendry character of Bheema in BR Chopra's 1988 Mahabharata.
- He was the “Saabu” from Chacha Chaudhary TV series.
- He is a politician now, he contested the 2013 Delhi Legislative elections from Aam Aadmi Party, but lost. Though in 2014, he joined the BJP.
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| Young Praveen Kumar, photo from a newspaper clipping. |