Raaj Kumar | |
---|---|
Born | Kulbhushan Pandit 8 October 1926 |
Died | 3 July 1996 | (aged 69)
Nationality | Indian |
Occupations | |
Years active | 1952–1995 |
Employer | Bombay Police |
Spouse | Gayatri Kumar |
Children | 3 (including Puru Raaj Kumar) |
Raaj Kumar (born Kulbhushan Pandit; 8 October 1926 – 3 July 1996) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi films.[1] In a career that spanned over four decades, he went on to star in 70 films and is regarded as one of the most successful actors of Indian cinema.[2]
Kulbhushan Pandit was born on 8 October, 1926 in Loralai in the Baluchistan Province of British India (now in Pakistan) into a Kashmiri Pandit family.[3][4] In the late 1940s, he moved to Bombay, where he became a sub-inspector under Bombay Police.[5] In the 1960s, he married Jennifer Pandit, an Anglo-Indian, whom he met on a flight where she was an air hostess. She later changed her name to Gayatri Kumar as per Hindu customs.[3] They had three children, sons Puru Raaj Kumar (an actor), Panini Raaj Kumar and daughter Vastavikta Pandit, who made her screen debut in 2006 film Eight: The Power of Shani.[6]
Raaj Kumar began his career with Rangeeli in 1952 and followed it with Anmol Sahar (1952), Aabshar (1953), Ghamand (1955), most of which sank without a trace. He got his breakthrough in 1957 with Mehboob Khan's epic drama Mother India.[7] The film emerged an All Time Blockbuster at the box office and also the most successful film of the 1950s.[8] It went on to win several accolades and was also featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.[9][10]
The widespread success of Mother India was followed by another blockbuster in 1959 with S. S. Vasan's social drama Paigham which had Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in the lead.[11] Kumar received praise for his performance of a caring elder brother and got a nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor category.[12]
Kumar began the new decade with Kishore Sahu's romantic drama Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai.[13] The film proved to be a box office superhit with one of its song "Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh" sung by Lata Mangeshkar becoming a chartbuster.[14] In 1961, he appeared alongside Rajendra Kumar and Asha Parekh in Gharana.[15] A remake of Telugu blockbuster Shanthi Nivasam, the film proved to be equally successful in Hindi and emerged a superhit at the box office.[16] After an absence lasting a year, he reunited with Rajendra Kumar and Meena Kumari for C. V. Sridhar's romantic drama Dil Ek Mandir.[17] It opened to highly positive response from audience and went on to become a superhit with Kumar receiving Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.[18] His other major release of the year, Phool Bane Angaare also did reasonably well at the box office.[19] In 1964, he once again worked with Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in Ramanand Sagar's second directional venture Zindagi.[20] The film opened to positive response and added one more box office hit in his kitty.[21]
After many years of doing supporting roles, Raaj Kumar became a saleable hero in 1965 with Yash Chopra's ensemble masala film Waqt and Ram Maheshwari's romantic drama Kaajal.[22][23] Both the films opened to thunderous response from audience and went on to become blockbusters.[24] For portraying a sophisticated thief in Waqt, Kumar won massive acclaim and his second Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.[25] His performance in Kaajal was also appreciated and he received his first and only nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Actor category for the film.[26] Kumar's other notable release of the year was Phani Majumdar's drama film Oonche Log co-starring Ashok Kumar and Feroz Khan.[27] The film received positive reviews from critics and won National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film in Hindi.[28] After having no release in 1966, the following year, he reunited with makers of Waqt for the suspense thriller Hamraaz.[29] The film proved to be a major critical and commercial success, eventually emerging a blockbuster and winning National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.[30][31] One of its song, "Neele Gagan Ke Tale", sung by Mahendra Kapoor and filmed on Kumar and Vimi proved to be an instant hit and won Kapoor his second Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer.[32] He also reunited with C. V. Sridhar (the director of Dil Ek Mandir) for the multi-starrer social drama Nai Roshni, but contrary to expectations, it flopped critically and commercially.
He concluded the decade with two biggies - Mere Huzoor and Neel Kamal.[33][34] While the former alongside Jeetendra and Mala Sinha did moderately well, the latter co-starring Manoj Kumar and Waheeda Rehman was a blockbuster and one of the top five highest grossing films of 1968.[35] For portraying a soul longing for his lost love in Neel Kamal, Kumar received his fifth and final nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor category.[36]
The early 70s saw Kumar appearing in some of his most iconic films.[37] His only release of 1970 was Chetan Anand's romantic musical Heer Raanjha opposite Priya Rajvansh.[38] It opened to highly positive reviews from critics and emerged a box office hit.[39] The soundtrack of Heer Raanjha composed by Madan Mohan was a chartbuster with a Mohammed Rafi solo - "Yeh Duniya, Yeh Mehfil Mere Kaam Ki Nahin" becoming a rage among the masses.[39] The success of Heer Raanjha was followed by Lal Patthar and Maryada in 1971.[40][41] While, Lal Patthar in which he got paired with Hema Malini was an average fare, Maryada opposite Mala Sinha and co-starring Rajesh Khanna proved to be a superhit.[42] In 1972, Kumar appeared in Kamal Amrohi's magnum opus Pakeezah which also had Meena Kumari (in her final film appearance) and Ashok Kumar in the lead.[43] Despite receiving polarizing reviews and being a slow starter, it went on to become a massive blockbuster at the box office and gained cult status in later years.[44] Its soundtrack composed by Naushad dominated the musical charts and was the eighth best selling Hindi film album of the 1970s.[45]
Post-Pakeezah, Kumar saw a decline in his career and had a string of flops in P. Madhavan's action drama Dil Ka Raaja (1972), Chetan Anand's war drama Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973), Raj Tilak's crime thriller 36 Ghante (1974), Brij's action comedy Ek Se Badhkar Ek (1976) and Ram Maheshwari's dacoit drama Chambal Ki Kasam (1980).[46] His only hit during this phase was another of Ram Maheshwari's film Karmayogi (1978) co-starring Jeetendra, Mala Sinha, Rekha and Reena Roy.[47][48]
After almost a decade of downturn, Kumar returned to success in 1981 with Esmayeel Shroff's crime thriller Bulundi.[49] The film received positive response from critics and proved to be a surprise hit at the box office.[50] That same year, he also appeared in Chetan Anand's reincarnation drama Kudrat alongside Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini and Priya Rajvansh.[51] Despite having blockbuster music and a huge star cast, Kudrat flopped commercially.[52][53] In 1982, he reunited with Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra for Sultan Ahmed's successful actioner Dharam Kanta.[54] This was followed by another series of commercial duds in Ek Nai Paheli (1984), Sharara (1984), Raaj Tilak (1984), Itihaas (1987), Muqaddar Ka Faisla (1987), Mohabbat Ke Dushman (1988), Saazish (1988) and Mahaveera (1988).[55] During this phase, Kumar remained steady with a superhit in Mehul Kumar's Marte Dam Tak (1987).
In 1989, he reunited with Mehul Kumar and Esmayeel Shroff for the actioners Jungbaaz and Suryaa: An Awakening, respectively.[56][57] While the former co-starring Govinda was a hit, Suryaa alongside Vinod Khanna went a step ahead and emerged a superhit, thus ending Kumar's dry run at the box office.[58] He began the following decade with another of Esmayeel Shroff's film, the crime thriller Police Public (1990).[59] An adaptation of Malayalam blockbuster Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988), it was a successful venture in Hindi as well.[60] In 1991, Kumar reunited with his Paigham co-star Dilip Kumar after 32 years for Subhash Ghai's action drama film Saudagar.[61] The film emerged a box office superhit and also proved to be the highest earner of the year.[62]
In 1993, Kumar starred alongside Nana Patekar in Mehul Kumar's magnum opus, the patriotic action drama Tirangaa (1993).[63] Tirangaa opened to excellent response all over the nation and emerged a blockbuster at the box office.[64] It also proved to be the last box office success of Kumar as his later films like Betaaj Badshah (1994), Jawab (1995) and God and Gun (1995) (which was also his final film appearance) were critical and commercial failures.[65]
Kumar died at the age of 69 on 3 July 1996 from throat cancer.[66][67] According to his son Puru Raaj Kumar in his interview to Farhana Farook, his father suffered from Hodgkins for which he had undergone chemotherapy. The last two years of his life were bad with the nodes recurring in the lungs and ribs.[68]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1952 | Rangeeli | N/A | |
Anmol Sahara | N/A | ||
1953 | Aabshar | N/A | |
1955 | Ghamand | N/A | |
1957 | Krishna Sudama | N/A | |
Mother India | Shyamu | ||
Nausherwan-E-Adil | Shehzada Naushazad / Joseph | ||
Neelmani | N/A | ||
1958 | Dulhan | Mohan | |
Panchayat | Mohan | ||
1959 | Durga Mata | N/A | |
Paigham | Ram Lal | Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor | |
Shararat | Suraj | ||
Ardhangini | Prakash | ||
Swarg Se Sundar Desh Hamara | N/A | ||
Ujala | Kalu | ||
1960 | Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai | Dr. Sushil Verma | |
1961 | Gharana | Kailash | |
1963 | Dil Ek Mandir | Ram | Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor |
Godaan | Hari | ||
Phool Bane Angaare | Captain Rajesh | ||
Pyar Ka Bandhan | Kalu | ||
1964 | Zindagi | Gopal | |
1965 | Waqt | Raja Chinnoy (Raju) | Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor |
Kaajal | Moti | Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Actor Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor | |
Oonche Log | Inspector Shrikant | ||
Rishte Naate | Sundar | ||
1967 | Hamraaz | Captain Rajesh | |
Nai Roshni | Jyoti Kumar | ||
1968 | Mere Huzoor | Nawab Salim | |
Neel Kamal | Chitrasen | Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor | |
Vaasna | Kailash Chander | ||
1970 | Heer Raanjha | Ranjha | |
1971 | Lal Patthar | Bahadur Gyan Shankar Rai | |
Maryada | Raja Babu / Raj Bahadur | ||
1972 | Pakeezah | Salim Ahmed Khan | |
Dil Ka Raaja | Raja Raghupati Singh / Raju[a] | ||
1973 | Hindustan Ki Kasam | Rajib | |
1974 | 36 Ghante | Editor Ashok Rai | |
1976 | Ek Se Badhkar Ek | Shankar | |
1978 | Karmayogi | Shankar / Mohan[a] | |
1980 | Chambal Ki Kasam | Thakur Suraj Singh | |
1981 | Bulundi | Professor Satish Khurana | |
Kudrat | Choudhary Janak Singh | ||
1982 | Dharam Kanta | Thakur Bhawani Singh | |
1984 | Ek Nai Paheli | Upendranath | |
Raaj Tilak | Samadh Khan | ||
Sharara | Dharamveer Singh Pathan | ||
1987 | Itihaas | Joginder Singh | |
Marte Dam Tak | Sub Inspector Rana | ||
Muqaddar Ka Faisla | Pandit Krishnakant | ||
1988 | Mohabbat Ke Dushman | Rehmat Khan | |
Saazish | Kailash | ||
Mahaveera | DSP Karamveer / Don | ||
1989 | Desh Ke Dushman | Sher Khan | |
Jungbaaz | Advocate Krishna Prasad Saxena | ||
Galiyon Ka Badshah | Ram / Raja | ||
Suryaa: An Awakening | Collector Rajpal Chauhan | ||
1990 | Police Public | CBI Inspector Jagmohan Azad | |
1991 | Saudagar | Thakur Rajeshwar Singh | |
1992 | Police Aur Mujrim | Police Commissioner Veer Bahadur Singh | |
1993 | Insaniyat Ke Devta | Jailor Rana Pratap | |
Tirangaa | Brigadier Suryadev Singh | ||
1994 | Betaaj Badshah | Raja Prithviraj | |
Ulfat Ki Nayee Manzilen | Raj | ||
1995 | Jawab | Ashwini Kumar Saxena | |
God And Gun | Sahib Bahadur Rathore |
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