Rajendra Kumar

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Rajendra Kumar

Born 20 July 1929
Sialkot, West Punjab,British India
Died 12 July 1999
Mumbai, India
Occupation Actor, Producer, Director
Years active 1950-1998
Spouse(s) Shukla

Rajendra Kumar (20 July 1929 - 12 July 1999) was an Indian movie actor, who acted in Bollywood films and was one of the most successful actors in the 1960s and 1970s. He also produced several films in the 1980s starring his son Kumar Gaurav.

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[edit] Career

Rajendra Kumar made his debut in the 1950 film Jogan in which he starred opposite Dilip Kumar and Nargis. He was then shot to fame in the blockbuster hit Mother India in 1957 in which he played Nargis's son. His first major success as a romantic leading man was in Vijay Bhatt's musical superhit Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959), co-starring Ameeta.

The 1960s saw Rajendra Kumar rise like no other star had risen,except the first Superstar Rajesh Khanna, and there was a time when every film starring him was a silver jubilee hit. There were times when he had six or seven films running in their silver jubilee weeks at the same time. It was a success that was unbelievable and Rajendra Kumar was soon known as "Jubilee Kumar".

He had many successful box office hits including Dhool Ka Phool (1959), Mere Mehboob (1963), Sangam (1964), Arzoo (1965), Suraj (1966) and Ganwaar (1970).[1]. He received Filmfare Nominations as Best Actor for Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Ayee Milan Ki Bela (1964), Arzoo (1965), and as Best Supporting Actor for Sangam (1964).[1] He was considered a golden boy for the movie producers in the sense that he was the actor who could recover the producers' money in a matter of few weeks.

However, the mid-1970s proved devastating for Rajendra Kumar. Several of his films bombed at the box office, and he was not getting the offers he used to receive earlier. It was the bleakest point in his career as he said in an interview. However, the sunshine came when he was offered an interesting role in the film Saajan Bina Suhaagan opposite Nutan. The film was a huge blockbuster of 1978. Rajendra Kumar had regained his 'Midas Touch'. He then switched from leading roles and played many character roles in the late 1970s and 1980s.

In 1981 Rajendra introduced his son Kumar Gaurav in the film Love Story which he produced, directed and also starred in. The film was declared the blockbuster of 1981.[2] But the success was shortlived as Kumar Gaurav's later films were huge disappointments at the box office and his son's career declined as soon as it began. Rajendra produced several other films starring his son which did not do well. In 1986 he produced Naam with his son and his son's brother-in-law Sanjay Dutt in leading roles which was a box office success but the success was shortlived. His last attempt to revive his son's career was with the 1993 film Phool where he once again acted alongside his son but this film was also a box office failure.

Rajendra appeared in only a few films after this and his last film appearance was a minor role in Deepa Mehta's critically acclaimed film Earth in 1998.

He died on July 12, 1999 of cancer only 8 days before his 70th birthday. He was known to never have taken medicines in his entire life.

[edit] Personal life

Rajendra Kumar was born in Sialkot, in the West Punjab province of British India, currently in Pakistan. He married Shukla and had a son Kumar Gaurav also an actor and two daughters. His son married Namrata Dutt, the daughter of actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis and sister of actor Sanjay Dutt. Rajendra had acted with Sanjay's father and mother Sunil Dutt and Nargis in the blockbuster film Mother India (1957) where both Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar played natural son's of Nargis.

[edit] Honours and recognitions

  • Rajendra Kumar was honoured with the Padma Shri Award in 1969.
  • 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 “Mehandi Rang Lagyo” (Gujarati).
  • He received a special Shastri National Award and was associated with several charity schemes. [2]

[edit] Selected Filmography

[edit] Actor

[edit] Producer

[edit] Director

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ 1st Filmfare Awards 1953
  2. ^ Arts Tribune
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