He was born in Kannod and appeared in over 150 Hindi films as a character actor starting in 1950s, with Patita (1953) and Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955).
He became famous for his one-liner "Dhakkan khol ke" in the film, Zinda Dil (1975), which he later used in his radio programs, as a suffix with almost every sentence.
He was also known as a social worker who helped poor students pay for their education.
He went on to appear in almost 200 films, for example Teesri Kasam, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, Mausam, Angoor and Ram Teri Ganga Maili.
He was known for mostly portraying negative characters, such as money lenders, pimps or rapists.