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]
Personal life
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]
Career
1952-1964: Early career and breakthrough
Raaj Kumar began his career with Rangeeli in 1952 and followed it with Anmol Sahar (1952), Aabshar (1953), Ghamand (1955), none of which could establish him. After many years of struggle, he got his breakthrough with Mehboob Khan's epic drama film Mother India (1957).[7] It opened to critical acclaim and emerged an All Time Blockbuster at the box office as well as the most successful film of the 1950s.[8] It went on to win several accolades and was featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.[9][10] The huge box office success of Mother India was followed by another blockbuster in S. S. Vasan's social drama film Paigham (1959), 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 in Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai (1960)
Kumar began the new decade with Kishore Sahu's romantic dramaDil 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]
The early-1970s saw Kumar appearing in some of his most iconic films.[37] His only release of 1970 was Chetan Anand's romantic musicalHeer 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, three of Kumar's films, Dil Ka Raja (1972), Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973) and 36 Ghante (1974) flopped commercially.[46] This changed with Brij's action comedy film Ek Se Badhkar Ek (1976), which proved to be a box office success.[47] In 1978, Kumar reunited with Jeetendra and Mala Sinha for Ram Maheshwari's action drama film Karmayogi in which he played a double role.[48] It opened to positive response from critics and emerged a superhit.[49]
Kumar began the 1990s with another of Esmayeel Shroff's film, the crime thriller Police Public (1990).[57] An adaptation of Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988), it performed well commercially and went on to become a box office hit.[58] The following year, he reunited with his Paigham co-star Dilip Kumar for Subhash Ghai's action drama film Saudagar.[59] The film emerged a blockbuster and took 1st spot at the box office in 1991.[60] Its soundtrack composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal was a chartbuster and the fourth best-selling Hindi film album of that year.[61] In 1993, Kumar starred alongside Nana Patekar in Mehul Kumar's magnum opus, the patriotic action drama Tirangaa (1993).[62]Tirangaa opened to excellent response all over the nation and proved to be another blockbuster for the actor.[63] It was also the final box office success of Kumar as his later films like Betaaj Badshah (1994), Jawab (1995) and God and Gun (1995) (which was his last film role) were critical and commercial failures.[64]
Death
Kumar died at the age of 69 on 3 July 1996 from throat cancer.[65][66] 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.[67]
