Remembering Sanjeev Kumar On His Birth Anniversary.
Let us reminiscence a trivia journey of his career on the birthday of this highly versatile actor who left this world early when he was just 47 after having a massive fatal heart attack.
Gujarat has given the Hindi film industry many female actors such as Asha Parekh, Dimple Kapadia, Pooja Bhatt, Aruna Irani and Supriya Pathak.
Male actors are lesser, and among them one name stands out, Sanjeev Kumar, the popular hero who has a road, a school and an auditorium named after him.
His birthday is on 9th July. Let us reminiscence a trivia journey of his career on the birthday of this highly versatile actor who left this world early when he was just 47 ,after having a massive fatal heart attack.
Hum Hindustani, in 1960, the Sunil Dutt starrer which had the famous song “Chodon kal ki baatein, kal ki baat purani” was Haribhai’s debut movie.
He was just 22. Haribhai had a small role in it, and he also had a minor role in Sunghursh, starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjantimala.
Currently, the much anticipated movie of the year is “Thugs of Hindostan” which is on the Thuggee cult. Sunghursh, incidentally the movie where Rakesh Roshan started his career was also on the thuggee cult as well.
It was Khilona in 1970 which firmly established Sanjeev Kumar on the road to superstardom.
This movie starred Shatrughan Sinha and Jeetendra as well.
There was only one female lead, Mumtaz who won best actress award. However Sanjeev Kumar too was nominated for best actor award and his role was highly acclaimed.
The song “Khilona jaan kar tum to” is one of Rafi saab’s best ever sad songs, and showcases Harbhai’s acting skills.
Sanjeev Kumar had such a stellar career it is not possible to do justice in just one article. Hence I will focus on just three aspects, his movies with Amitabh Bachchan, his unforgettable comedy movies and a rare Shotgun Sinha-Sanjeev Kumar trivia.
Sanjeev Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan:
Haribhai made a super pair with Amitabh Bachchan.
They 1st had special appearances each in Mehmood’s Kunwara Baap.
After Faraar came the blockbuster Sholay.
Other prominent movies starring both of them were Trishul, Kaala patthar, Silsila andKhuddaar.
Sanjeev Kumar enjoyed acting with Amitabh, even though he was given the older roles.
Only once he was reluctant to act in an Amitabh starrer, and that was for Silsila, but he relented after Yash Chopra went all the way to Bangalore to convince him to take up the role.
Sanjeev Kumar’s comedy movies:
Haribhai had an amazing comic touch which was seen in movies like Seeta aur Geeta, Pati Patni Aur Woh and Biwi O Biwi.
Somehow good music and songs too are associated with Sanjeev Kumar. Seeta aur Geeta had “Koi ladki mujhe kal raat” and “Hawa ke saath saath”.
Pati Patni Aur Woh had the all time famous song “Thande thande paani se” while Biwi O biwi too had excellent music by Pancham.
However, Haribhai’s undisputedly best comic movie was Angoor, directed by Gulzar where both he and Deven Verma played twins.
This movie is based on Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors and it is in my opinion the best ever mistaken identity movie ever made in Hindi film industry.
Sanjeev Kumar and Shatrughan Sinha:
Shotgun Sinha in his book has said that once he needed Rs 10 Lakhs for an unknown expenditure and could not arrange the funds.
He was ready to even sell his house but his wife Poonam was not agreeing.
Filmmaker Subhash Ghai kept on saying he would give him but was simply delaying on some pretext or the other.
Shotgun met Sanjeev kumar for dinner and casually mentioned to him.
Haribhai asked him when could he return it and Shotgun said he had no idea.
To his surprise the next day, Sanjeev Kumar’s secretary came to him and gave him the money.
Shotgun asked him what interest rate would be charged and Haribhai said “between friends, no interest”.
The film Naya Din Nayi Raat was one of his biggest moments of glory.
By playing as many as nine diverse roles, he showcased his vast range of acting skills.
The film was a remake of a Tamil film ‘Navarathri’ starring Sivaji Ganesan . And living up to the legendary Ganesan was quite a challenge.
But Sanjeev Kumar took on challenge sportingly and delivered an amazing performance.
Each of the 9 characters were different from the other and equally memorable.
Be it the God man, the scientist, the doting father, the beggar, the bandit , the romantic lead opposite Jaya Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar excelled in the portrayal of each and every character.
As mentioned earlier, subtlety and versatility were Sanjeev Kumar’s main strengths.
Bollywood was characterized mainly by loud and melodramatic performances wherein the actors were also straining for effect.
But Sanjeev Kumar was different.
He delivered masterful performances without resorting to melodrama most of the times.
Case in point would be Koshish.
The scene in which he tells his name i.e. Haricharan Singh to Dina Pathak by referring to a mirchi lying on the floor and then to his feet.
Or his outburst in the scene when his son refuses to marry a deaf and mute girl.
It was a beautifully acted and well nuanced performance.
And how can one forget Sholay?
The cold look in his eyes was enough to communicate his anger.
He had a superb sense of comic timing which could be rivaled only by few.
He used this timing to great effect to give us some amazing comic performances in films like Angoor, Pati, patni aur woh, Biwi O Biwi amongst other films.
Who can forget his hilarious rendition of the song ‘pritam aan milo’,or his frustration and his reactions to the confusion about the twins in ‘Angoor’, his narration of a sob story about his wife to woo other women in ‘Pati, patni aur woh’, the hard nosed colonel and the conman in ‘Biwi o biwi.
These performances of his showcased his excellent comic timing.
Of course equal credit must be given to directors such as Ramesh Sippy, B.R Chopra, Rahul rawail etc. who gave him such opportunities to showcase his acting prowess.
How can one not mention Gulzar whilst talking about Sanjeev Kumar.
Together they have given some amazing films.
Gulzar fully understood Sanjeev Kumar’s acting genius and gave him diverse roles to showcase his vast acting prowess.
In the process, Gulzar and Sanjeev saab made some of their best films together.
Be it Aandhi, Koshish, Mausam, Parichay, Mausam, Namkeen or my favourite Angoor.
Each was film was different from the other yet a masterpiece.
Even in a small role as Jaya Bachchan’s father in Parichay, Sanjeev Kumar left a mark.
Even in multi starrers such as Trishul, Vidhaata, Jaani dushman etc.
Sanjeev Kumar’s presence loomed large over the film.
Trishul was a multi starrer in the truest sense with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Rakhee etc heralding the cast besides Sanjeev Kumar.
Amitabh Bachchan gave one of his best performances as the illegitimate son of industrialist J.K (Sanjeev kumar).
But it is Kumar who gives the film that extra edge with his performance.
As JK, the ruthless industrialist Sanjeev Kumar ’s presence largely dominates over the film with his subtle yet powerful performance.
A commendable fact is that despite Sanjeev Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan being contemporaries, Sanjeev Kumar had no qualms in playing the role of Bachchan’s father, a role which many of AB’s contemporaries would definitely have shied away from.
Similarly Vidhaata also had an impressive cast of Dilip Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Shammi Kapoor , the then relatively less popular Sanjay Dutt, Amrish Puri amongst others.
But even here Sanjeev Kumar stood out in his role as Sanjay Dutt’s caretaker.
Amongst the leading ladies, Sanjeev Kumar formed a unique jodi with Jaya Bachchan.
They have acted together in diverse pairings and roles that were memorable.
Be it as father and daughter in Parichay and Naya din nayi raat, or as father in law and daughter in law in Sholay, husband and wife in Koshish, or the romantic lead in Anamika, Naukar etc.
Jaya Bachchan also displayed great flair and gave brilliant performances opposite him especially. in films like Koshish, Anamika.
In the ’80’s i.e. towards the fag end of his career, Sanjeev Kumar diverted towards playing supporting roles in films such as Hero, Vidhaata etc.
Still he gave memorable performances in these films.
He also had his share of bad films during this phase such as Zabardast, Hathkadi etc.
And shockingly in November 1985, he passed away leaving a permanent void in the world of Hindi cinema and his fans disappointed.
A large number of his films were released after his death which he had completed prior to his demise.
However the film Professor ki Padosan suffered a lot due to his untimely demise.
In their July 2008 edition,a noted magazine did a feature on Sanjeev Kumar to mark his birth anniversary.
Strangely, his family members refused to speak about him in that feature.
And the memoirs shared were mainly by actors such as Shatrugan Sinha, Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi amongst others.
Sanjeev Kumar’s personal life has mostly been mired in tragedy.
Dejected after being rejected by Hema Malini, he remained a bachelor for his entire life and passed away in loneliness perhaps.
Perhaps, his personal life took a toll on him and might have been one of the reasons for his early demise.
It is also believed that actress Sulakshana Pandit was very keen to get married to him.
Unfortunately that was never to happen.
Though he may have passed away, he still continues to regale audiences with his vast range of memorable performances which showcase an actor of great caliber.
And he continues to live in the hearts of moviegoers forever through his great performances.
Happy Birthday to the great Sanjeev Kumar.
