Kumar Pallana

Kumar Valavhadas Pallana (23 December 1918 – 10 October 2013) was an Indian-American character actor. He performed on television on the Mickey Mouse Club, The Ed Sullivan Show, and You Asked for It as a plate spinner and juggler. He is best known for playing significant characters in Wes Anderson's first three movies: Bottle Rocket, Rushmore (1998) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). He also acted in Steven Spielberg's The Terminal (2004).

Career Pallana moved to the United States in 1946 and spent 20 years performing around the country before settling down in Texas at his wife's insistence, and started a yoga studio.

Pallana was married to Ranjana Jethwa and had two children, son Dipak and daughter Sandhya. His son Dipak created, owned, and operated a cafe called the Cosmic Cup (now Cosmic Cafe) in Dallas, where Kumar met director Wes Anderson and actor Owen Wilson. Anderson subsequently cast Pallana in his films Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Darjeeling Limited. Pallana also appeared in the Bollywood movie Anjaana Anjaani (2010) and the acclaimed independent film Another Earth (2011). A short documentary, KUMAR:MKE, about Pallana's connection to the Milwaukee film scene, was released in 2015.

Personal life and death Pallana's daughter Sandhya Pallana worked with him on The Terminal and other productions. His son Dipak, also an actor, appeared in Anderson's films such as Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums.

Pallana died on 10 October 2013 at his home in Oakland, California at age 94.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1952 Viva Zapata! Soldier Uncredited 1996 Bottle Rocket Kumar 1998 Rushmore Mr. Littlejeans 2001 The Royal Tenenbaums Pagoda 2002 Bomb the System Kumar Baba 2003 Duplex Indian Restaurant Owner 2004 The Terminal Gupta Rajan 2005 Romance & Cigarettes Da Da Kumar 2006 The Gold Bracelet Dhinubhai 2006 RevoLOUtion Kumar 2006 10 Items or Less Lee 2007 The Darjeeling Limited Old man on train 2009 Karma Aur Holi DJ Rav 2009 Today's Special Shah 2010 Anjaana Anjaani Coast guard 2011 Another Earth Purdeep 2011 Hollywood Whores Magic Man 2011 Campus Radio Yogi 2012 Heavy Hands The Clerk 2014 Hamlet A.D.D. Kumar Posthumous 2019 Black Licorice Kumar Posthumous;Final film role