Rajendra Kumar

Rajendra Kumar was born in a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family in Sialkot, in the Punjab province of British India.^[5] His grandfather was a successful military contractor and his father had a textile business in Karachi, Sindh, British India. During the Partition of India, the family had to leave all the land and property behind and move to India. When they came to Bombay, Kumar decided to try his luck in the Hindi film industry. He never wanted to be a hero and took up work with director H. S. Rawail as an assistant. For nearly five years, he worked with Rawail as an assistant in films like Patanga, Sagai, Pocket Maar.^[6]

He married Shukla of the Behl family of Hindi films, a sister of Ramesh Behl and Shyam Behl and aunt of their sons Goldie Behl and Ravi Behl.^[7] He and Shukla had a son and two daughters. His son Kumar Gaurav is a former actor. His daughter Dimple was married to Hollywood film producer Raju Patel. His sister Manorama was married to Indian film producer O. P. Ralhan. His younger brother was film director Naresh Kumar.

Kumar acted with Sunil Dutt and Nargis in the film Mother India (1957) where Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar played sons of Nargis's character. He had a special relationship with Dutt and used to actively participate in campaigning for him, whenever the latter used to contest for elections. Dutt quoted as having said that "Even though Rajendra Kumar did not win any award throughout his career, he was one of the most genuine human beings I have ever encountered. When I was struggling with the troubles related to the arrest of my son Sanjay Dutt and my house was repeatedly being searched by means of numerous police raids, Rajendra Kumar was the one who came to my rescue by staying at my house and ensuring that raids were conducted using due procedures, false evidences were not planted in the house and valuables were not stolen." Kumar was best friends with Raj Kapoor, so much so that his son Kumar Gaurav was engaged to the latter's daughter, Reema. However, their friendship fell apart after their children broke the engagement and Kumar Gaurav married Sunil Dutt and Nargis's daughter Namrata.^[8]

After beginning his acting career with small roles in Patanga (1949) and Jogan (1950), Rajendra Kumar appeared as a main lead in Devendra Goel's Vachan (1955) alongside Geeta Bali.^[9] The film emerged a hit and made him a known face.^[10] This was followed by Mehboob Khan's epic drama film Mother India (1957).^[11] It opened to excellent audience response and went on to become an All Time Blockbuster at the box office along with being the most successful film of the 1950s.^[12][13] Mother India went on to win several accolades, including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film (Hindi) and was also featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.^[14][15]

Kumar shot to stardom in 1959 with three back-to-back hits.^[16] He first appeared in Vijay Bhatt's romantic musical Goonj Uthi Shehnai.^[17] It performed very well at the box office and proved to be a superhit.^[18] His next release Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan also did good business, while his final release Yash Chopra's directional debut, the romantic social drama Dhool Ka Phool went on to become a blockbuster as well as one of the highest earners of the year.^[19] One of its song "Tu Hindu Banega Na Musalman Banega", written by Sahir Ludhianvi and sung by Mohammed Rafi was a huge hit and remains popular till date.^[20]

The following year, he co-starred alongside Ashok Kumar and Nanda in B.R. Chopra's courtroom drama Kanoon.^[21] Despite not having any songs and other gimmicks required in a commercial Hindi film, Kanoon proved to be a hit and went on to win National Film Award for Best Feature Film (Hindi).^[22][23] 1961 proved to be one of the best year of Kumar's career with many successes. His first release, the drama film Zindagi aur Khwab alongside Meena Kumari was a critical and commercial hit.^[24] He then appeared in Mohan Kumar's Aas Ka Panchhi opposite Vyjayanthimala and S. S. Vasan's Gharana co-starring Asha Parekh, both of which went on to become blockbusters.^[25] This was followed by another major hit in Sasural and a moderate success in Pyaar Ka Saagar.^[26]

In 1963, Kumar's first release was C.V. Sridhar's romantic drama Dil Ek Mandir co-starring Raaj Kumar and Meena Kumari.^[27] The film opened to highly positive response from critics and emerged a superhit with him receiving his first nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Actor category.^[28] The huge success of Dil Ek Mandir was followed by a hit in O. P. Ralhan's Gehra Daag.^[22] His last release of the year was H. S. Rawail's muslim social Mere Mehboob which also had Ashok Kumar and Sadhana in the main lead.^[29] The film topped the box office chart in 1963 and was given the verdict of All Time Blockbuster by the end of its run.^[30] Its soundtrack composed by Naushad dominated the musical charts and was the second best-selling Hindi film album of the 1960s.^[31]

With continuous flow of hits from 1960 onwards and many of his films running for a minimum 25 weeks (silver jubilee), Rajendra Kumar earned the sobriquet of Jubilee Kumar and emerged a Superstar.^[32][33]

In 1964, he delivered three major successes. His first release that year was Mohan Kumar's Ayee Milan Ki Bela co-starring Saira Banu and Dharmendra.^[34] It continued the success streak of Kumar and proved to be a blockbuster with him getting nominated again for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.^[35] This was followed by Raj Kapoor's magnum opus Sangam which also had Vyjayanthimala in the lead.^[36] It received widespread acclaim, with high praise for its novel concept, direction, screenplay, dialogue, soundtrack, costumes, cinematography and performances of the cast, and is widely considered as Hindi cinema's greatest love triangle.^[37][38] At the box office, it emerged an All Time Blockbuster and the second highest-grossing film of the 1960s behind Mughal-E-Azam.^[39][40] The music of Sangam was a huge chartbuster with songs that remain popular till date like "Dost Dost Na Raha", "Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega", "Bol Radha Bol", "Yeh Mera Prem Patra" and emerged as the best-selling Hindi film album of the 1960s.^[41] The mega success of Ayee Milan Ki Bela and Sangam was followed by a superhit in Ramanand Sagar's second directional venture Zindagi.^[42] The next year, Kumar reunited with Ramanand Sagar for the romantic drama Arzoo, which had Sadhana opposite him.^[43] The film did very well both critically and commercially, eventually emerging a blockbuster as well as one of the top 5 highest grossing films of 1965.^[44] Owing to his subtle performance of a handicapped, Kumar received his third and final nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Actor.^[45]

In 1966, he starred in T. Prakash Rao's big-budget swashbuckler Ruritanian romance Suraj.^[46] The film backed up with superhit songs, including ""Baharon Phool Barsao", sung by Rafi and "Titli Udi Ud Jo Chali", a solo by Sharda, went on to become a massive blockbuster and the second highest grossing film of that year.^[47] The following year, he had two releases Aman and Palki, both of which were critical and commercial failures.^[16] In 1968, he appeared in another of C.V. Sridhar's romantic drama Saathi and Lekh Tandon's romantic comedy Jhuk Gaya Aasman.^[48][49] While the latter was a flop in its initial run, it performed very well in re-runs.^[50] On the other hand, Saathi emerged a semi-hit at the box office.^[51]

The year 1969 saw the emergence of another superstar in the form of Rajesh Khanna, who stormed the nation with back-to-back blockbusters in Aradhana and Do Raaste.^[52] With his rise, a number of stars saw a decline in their career graph and Kumar was one of them.^[53]

In 1969, he had three releases - Anjaana, Shatranj, Talash, out of which, Anjana and Talash proved to be hits, but Shatranj didnt do well at the box office.^[22] In 1970, Kumar had two more hits in Ramanand Sagar's Geet co-starring Mala Sinha and Naresh Kumar's Ganwaar alongside Vyjayanthimala, but his other releases, C. V. Sridhar's Dharti with Waheeda Rehman and Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker (in which he had a small role), flopped commercially.^[22][54] The next year, his sole release and final collaboration with Mohan Kumar took place for the romantic drama Aap Aye Bahaar Ayee co-starring Sadhana and Prem Chopra.^[55] The film backed up with chartbuster songs like "Mujhe Teri Mohabbat Ka Sahara", "Aap Aye Bahaar Ayee" and "Poochhe Jo Koi Mujhse", proved to be a hit at the box office.^[22]

In 1972, Kumar appeared alongside Hema Malini and Rekha in another of Naresh Kumar's directional venture Gora Aur Kala.^[56] A remake of Tamil mega hit Neerum Neruppum, it proved to be an equally successful venture in Hindi and emerged a blockbuster as well as the fifth highest grossing film of the year.^[57] He then collaborated with Dharmendra and Mala Sinha for Ramanand Sagar's war action film Lalkar.^[58] Recalled as one of the costliest films of its time, Lalkar failed to live up to the huge expectations and ended up as an average fare.^[59] Following a brief hiatus, Kumar appeared in two successful films - Sunehra Sansar (1975) and Do Jasoos (1975).^[60] After having a critical and commercial failure in Mazdoor Zindabaad (1976), he starred in films, such as Daku Aur Mahatma (1977), Shirdi Ke Sai Baba (1977), Sone Ka Dil Lohe Ke Haath (1978), Aahuti (1978), Saajan Bina Suhagan (1978) and Bin Phere Hum Tere (1979), all of which did moderately well at the box office.^[61][62][63]

In 1981, Rajendra Kumar launched and acted alongside his son Kumar Gaurav in the romantic musical Love Story.^[64] The film proved to be a huge blockbuster and one of the biggest hits of the year.^[65] Its soundtrack composed by R.D. Burman was highly successful and the second best-selling Hindi film album of the 1980s.^[66] Love Story also proved to be the final box office success of Kumar's career.^[67]

Post-Love Story, he did a guest appearance in another of his son's acting venture Star (1982) and took up supporting roles in few films like Lovers (1983), Main Tere Liye (1988), Clerk (1989), but none of them found any success.^[68][69]

The last film to feature Kumar was Singeetam Srinivasa Rao's action drama Phool (1993), which Kumar also produced.^[70]

Known to refuse taking any medication, he died at the age of 71 on 12 July 1999, just a day after his son's 43rd birthday and just 8 days before his 72nd birthday. He died of cardiac arrest in his sleep.^[71]

The then Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee condoled his death and expressed profound grief. I & B Minister Pramod Mahajan said "The world of cinema has become poorer by his death." State minister for I & B, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said, "The death of the veteran actor, who swayed the emotions of the cinegoers, is a great loss to the industry".^[22]

• Padma Shri (1970).
• He was also conferred with Justice of Peace honour and served as Honorary Magistrate.
• He was awarded the National Honour by late Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru simultaneously for Kanoon (Hindi) and Mehndi Rang Lagyo (Gujarati film).
• He received a special Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award and was associated with several charity schemes.^[72]

Rajendra Kumar is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema.^[73][74] Known for his acting and mannerism, he earned the nickname of Jubilee Kumar as five or six of his films used to run simultaneously for 25 weeks.^[32]

One of the most successful actors of the 1950s and 1960s, Kumar appeared in Box Office India's "Top Actors" list seven times, (1961, 1963–1968). He topped the list six times (1963-1968).^[16]

In 2022, he was placed in Outlook India's "75 Best Bollywood Actors" list.^[75]

• The Train (1970)
• Ganwaar (1970)
• Talash (1969)
• Phool Aur Patthar (1966)

• Mere Mehboob (1963) (performer: "Mere Mehboob Tujhe", "Allah Bachaye", "Tere Pyar Mein Dildar", "Janeman Ek Nazar", "Yaad Mein Teri", "Tumse Izhar e Haal", "Mere Mehboob Mein Kya", "Ae Husn Zara Jaag", "Yaad Mein (revival) Zalzala")

• Mera Naam Joker (1970) (acknowledgment) (as Rajender Kumar)

• Raj Kapoor (1987) as Himself (during funeral)
• Star (1982) as Himself (Guest Appearance)
• Shrimanji (1968) as Himself
• Kala Bazar (1960) as Himself

• Film Hi Film (1983) (uncredited)

• Rajendra Kumar at IMDb
• Rajendra Kumar profile at Rediff.com