Sanjeev Kumar, All about this great actor Options

[Dimple]

Remembering Sanjeev Kumar on his Birth anniversary

By IndiaFM News Bureau, July 9, 2007 - 14:52 IST

9 July, 1938 saw the birth of one of the finest actors in Hindi Cinema- Harihar Zariwala aka Sanjeev Kumar. Today on his 69th Birth Anniversary, IndiaFM speaks to people from the film fraternity who were either associated with him or who were influenced by his acting prowess.

Mala Sinha:
“He was a very sensitive actor, he never acted- he just became the character. But off-screen he was very child-like; he dropped by at our place unannounced one day and declared that he would have lunch with us. My Baba was embarrassed because we are fish-eaters and we had nothing much to offer a Gujarati vegetarian! But he assured us that he didn't mind eating fish at all. He ate heartily picking out fish-bones as deftly as we do.”

Yash Chopra:
“My film Silsila is special because it has immortal moments. For Rekha's husband I wanted Sanjeev Kumar, but he wasn't willing. After Sholayand Trishul he wasn't willing to play second fiddle to a script that focused on Amitabh Bachchan. He wasn't willing to even listen to the story, but I insisted and followed him to Bangalore. We were half-way through the narration and I was telling him of the restaurant scene when Jaya and Amitabh take the dance floor and Sanjeev asks me to stop. He stopped me, phoned his secretary to check his dates and said he was doing the film.”

Moushmi Chatterjee:
“Sanjeev Kumar was my favorite co-star who played my hero, father and brother-in-law in different films.

Rajpal Yadav:
“I want to become like Sanjeev Kumar. He had great comic timing and regaled people in films like Angoor and Swarag Narak but he also possessed the chameleon-like ability to become the character he portrayed. Nobody laughed at his entry in Sholay because he personified a duty-bound police officer. Then, take Koshish for instance. His heart-rendering portrayal of a deaf and dumb father brings tears to our eyes even today. I want to cast myself in the same mould.”

Seema Deo:
I was scared to work with Sanjeev Kumar in Yehi Hai Zindagi and told him “Aap mujhe sambhaal lena.” He smiled and said, "But I am your fan."

Subhash Ghai:
“Sanjeev Kumar was one of the finest actors I have ever worked with. He was one of those heroes who would play many characters at one time. He could change get ups and colours. He was a dear and honest person. He was a delight for any director to work with. He has given some very memorable performances. He was a very good-hearted person. He used to give money to small producers to complete the shooting of the film. He died unmarried but he was a constant lover..”

A K Hangal:
“He used to work in theatre and I have directed him on stage. We never went to each other's house, but we still loved each other. We never showed it to each other. When he died I did not get out of the house for a long time. I did not eat for two days. I have never cried for anybody's death, but I cried for Sanjeev's. He had a very sublime personality. He was of a good nature. He was not the showy types. He was a very good actor.

I used to smoke in those days and even he was a smoker. I asked him for a cigarette one day. He didn't say anything but went 10-20 feet away from me and stood in a corner and gave me a cigarette there. I wondered why he was doing that to me. Then I realized I used to give him cigarettes in the same way when he was kadkaa (ran out of money). So, that was why he was taking revenge from me.”

Interesting facts:
Dharmendra wanted to enact the role of Thakur in Sholay. Ramesh Sippy then said that Sanjeev Kumar would get the role of Veeru then and would get to romance Hema Malini. Knowing Sanjeev's softness for Hema, Dharmendra immediately signed for the part of Veeru and his character is remembered even today.

Sanjeev won two National Awards for Best Actor in Dastak (1970) and Koshish (1972).

In the 80s, he stopped taking care of his looks and became quite obese which eventually lead to his death following a heart-attack on 6 November, 1985.


With inputs from Screen India

[noorie]

Interesting facts:
Dharmendra wanted to enact the role of Thakur in Sholay. Ramesh Sippy then said that Sanjeev Kumar would get the role of Veeru then and would get to romance Hema Malini.
Knowing Sanjeev's softness for Hema, Dharmendra immediately signed for the part of Veeru and his character is remembered even today.

What was Dharam so afraid of?

Noorie

[YaarMere]

Never rated SK, bit of a geek if you know wot I mean.

[NATURE]

Never rated SK, bit of a geek if you know wot I mean.

who/what is geek ? sk or "yr comment" ?

[harihar]

Never rated SK, bit of a geek if you know wot I mean.

Sorry I have to disagree with you here YM, he was a class actor, pity he did not get his due/notice.

His track says it all.

Well done Dimple to bring this actor to everyone's notice.

He did lose out in love.

[noorie]

Never rated SK, bit of a geek if you know wot I mean.

He did lose out in love.

If the 'stories' are 2 be believed, he didn't suffer much.

Noorie

[noorie]

Never rated SK, bit of a geek if you know wot I mean.

Sorry I have to disagree with you here YM, he was a class actor

What if that was meant in a complimentary fashion?

Noorie

[harihar]

Never rated SK, bit of a geek if you know wot I mean.

Sorry I have to disagree with you here YM, he was a class actor

What if that was meant in a complimentary fashion?

Noorie

If it was then I will only apologise as Cyborg advises without starting questionable answers/reply! As I thought you questioned Quote who/what is geek ? sk or "yr comment" ?unquote So you are inferring you knew what geek meant as well as his comment

[noorie]

If it was then I will only apologise as Cyborg advises without starting questionable answers/reply! As I thought you questioned Quote who/what is geek ? sk or "yr comment" ?unquote So you are inferring you knew what geek meant as well as his comment.

A single word may have a thousand different connotations, and it’s very important to make oneself familiar with all of them; that was the gist of my last post.

Noorie

[YaarMere]

Never rated SK, bit of a geek if you know wot I mean.

who/what is geek ? sk or "yr comment" ?

Your 1st Q makes your 2nd Q redundant and regarding your 1st Q, those who can do, do, and those who cant teach... go ask sum1 else to teach you a 4eign language and start off with English.

[Mandrake]

So Dimple, are we going to read more about this fantastic actor here, or do we again have to suffer unwanted spam?

[jassi]

grt actor

[yob]

grt actor

my all time fav--sanjeev kumar and moti lal.

[bawlachintu]

Good thread. Thanks Dimple.

[harihar]

Sanjeev Kumar was one of those few actor-stars to whom the role meant more than anything in the world. He was willing to play any character of any age in a film, even if it wasn't the lead role, provided the role challenged his acting abilities which of course were considerable. In that sense he chose to tread the path set down by other actor-stars such as Motilal and Balraj Sahni and rewrote many of the conventions of Bollywood rather than follow the conventional star system.

He was born Harihar Jariwala into a traditional Gujarati family living in a tenement in Mumbai. After dabbling in theatre, he joined the Filmalaya Acting School and did his first role, a bit role in Filmalaya's Hum Hindustani (1960). The Rajshris auditioned him for Aarti (1962) opposite Meena Kumari but he flopped in the audition and was rejected.

Sanjeev Kumar's first film as hero, Nishana (1965),was a B-grade swashbuckler and many of his earlier films were of the same ilk opposite starlets like Kum Kum. But they were popular nevertheless and Sanjeev more than made his mark in them. He was first noticed in a big way in Sanghash (1968) where he was pitted against Dilip Kumar and more than held his own in the scenes they did together. (In fact many thought he scored over Dilip Kumar in the scenes they did together) Slowly he began getting leading roles opposite top actresses like Nutan, Waheeda Rehman and Mala Sinha.

Khilona (1970) made Sanjeev Kumar into a star. But again what stood out in the film was was his outstanding acting. He was absolutely spot-on as a mentally imbalanced man who is helped back to sanity by a prostitute hired to nurse him. The same year also saw him deliver a fine performance in Dastak, matching Rehana Sultan's National Award winning performance scene for scene and winning his first National Award as Best Actor.

In spite of being a star, Sanjeev Kumar still opted for roles that were off the beaten track in films like Anubhav (1971) though it must be mentioned here that good as he was in the film, it was Tanuja who walked off with the film. He also consolidated his position meanwhile in the mainstream with hits like Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) and Manchali (1973).

Parichay (1972) and Koshish (1972), which won him a second National Award, brought him into contact with their director, Gulzar. Thus started a mutually beneficial partnership that saw some of Sanjeev Kumar's finest work as an actor. He played a deaf and dumb man in the latter and it is amazing to watch him emote having internalized his feelings without the help of dialogue and his performance is screen acting at its very best. The scene where he thinks his child is also deaf since he is not responding to a faulty rattle or the scene where he castigates his son for refusing to marry a handicapped girl show a supreme actor at the peak of his histionic talent. The Gulzar - Sanjeev Kumar partnership resulted in such fine films as Aandhi (1975), Mausam (1975), Angoor (1981) and Namkeen (1982) with strong Sanjeev Kumar performances in each of them.

Sanjeev Kumar was one actor who improved his performance tremendously at the dubbing stage with his marvelous voice control. The quiver in his emotionally saturated voice was as important an element of his acting as small casual getsures like running his hand down his neck. He never minded dyeing his hair if the role required it and even played much older men in films like Aandhi, Mausam, Sholay (1975) and Trishul (1978). In fact in Sholay he played Jaya Bhaduri's father-in-law. This after playing her lover in Koshish and Anamika (1973) and her father in Parichay! And despite making his reputation as a serious actor, he showed a great flair for the light-hearted in films like Manchali, Manoranjan (1974), Pati Patni Aur Woh (1978) and Angoor. Films like Naya Din Nayi Raat (1974) wherein he played multiple roles further showcased his acting talent and versatility.

In 1977 Sanjeev Kumar had an opportunity to work with the great Satyajit Ray when the latter made his first film outside Bengal, Shatranj ke Khiladi (1977). The film features delightful performances by Saeed Jaffrrey and Sanjeev Kumar as Mir and Mirza respectively, so utterly absorbed in their game of chess that Mirza neglects his wife while Mir's wife has an affair right under his unsuspecting nose! When Lucknow falls to the British, they leave for an abandoned mosque on the outskirts of the city to play in peace! It is a delightfully nuanced performance under a great director.

Unfortunately by the 1980s, Sanjeev Kumar had grown extremely careless with his looks and had let himself bloat up. Among his later lot of films the only two that really stand out are Vidhaata (1982), which again brought him face to face with Dilip Kumar (Again he scored over the thespian in the one major confrontation scene they had in the film) and Hero(1983), both directed by Subhash Ghai.

A bachelor, Sanjeev Kumar died of an acute heart ailment in 1985. It is ironic that someone who had played so many elderly roles, himself didn't even live to be fifty...


Memorable Films

Sangharsh (1968)

128kbps

Dastak (1970)

Khilona (1970)

Anubhav (1971)

Koshish (1972)

Seeta Aur Geeta (1972)

Anamika (1973)

Manchali (1973)

Aap ki Kasam (1974)

Manoranjan (1974)

Naya Din Nayi Raat (1974)

Aandhi (1975)

Mausam (1975)

Sholay (1975)

Zindagi (1976)

Shatranj ke Khiladi (1977)

Pati Patni Aur Woh (1978)

Trishul (1978)

Grihapravesh (1979)

Angoor (1981)

Silsila (1981)

Namkeen (1982)

Vidhaata (1982)

Hero (1983)

Courtesy US