Gufi Paintal

Gufi Paintal Walia (4 October 1944 – 5 June 2023), also known as Sarabjeet Singh Paintal, was an Indian actor and casting director.

Initially trained as an engineer, he joined the Indian Army during the Sino-Indian War in 1962.

While on the border, a folk play of Ramlila was conducted in which he performed the role of Sita, from where he became interested in acting.

Then he came to Bombay where his younger brother Paintal (who had been trained at the Film and Television Institute of India) was trying his career in acting.

Arriving in Bombay in 1969, Gufi took up modelling, worked as an assistant director for movies and acted in various movies and serials.

He also directed his brother.

His most well-known role is that of Mama (Maternal Uncle) Shakuni in the adaptation of Mahabharat by B.R. Chopra and his son Ravi Chopra, which Paintal himself recognized as his best role.

He was so associated with his Shakuni character in India that Paintal presented a political discussion show on the news channel Sahara Samay in the character of Shakuni.

In 2010 he was appointed head of facility at the Abbhinnay Acting Academy in Mumbai, a school established by his Mahabharata co-star Pankaj Dheer.

Paintal died in a Mumbai hospital on 5 June 2023, at the age of 78.

Paintal directed the movie Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, which sketches the life of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a 16th-century devotee of Krishna who is recognised as an incarnation of the god by followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.

The film was produced by Pawan Kumar with music by Ravindra Jain.