Sanjeev Kumar, born July 9, 1938 was an Indian film actor. After moving to Mumbai at a young age, a sting in a film school led him to Bollywood. Here he went on to become a highly accomplished actor and is widely acclaimed by critics to be one of the all time greatest actors Indian Cinema has ever produced. His acting career started as a play actor with IPTA in Bombay. After this he joined the Indian National Theatre. Even as a stage actor, he liked playing older roles. In fact, at the age of 22, he played an old man in an adaptation of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. After being a stage actor for about 10 years, he made his film debut with a small role in Hum Hindustani in 1960. His first film as a protagonist was in Nishan (1965). In 2968, he acted alongside the famous actor of that time, Dilip Kumar, in Sangharsh. He also starred opposite Shammi Kapoor and Sadhana in the superhit film Saachaai (1969). Finally in 1970, the movie Khilona, which was the remake of Tamil film Engirundho Vandhaal, brought Kumar national recognition. In 1972, he played in an Indo-Iranian film, Subah aur Shaam. This was when the director Gulzar first spotted him. Later he cast Kumar in the roles of older men in 4 of his films which were Parichay, Koshish, Aandi, and Mausam. In 1982, Kumar won the BFJA Awards for Best Actor for his exemplary portrayal of a deaf and mute person in Koshish, in which the female lead was played by Jaya Bhaduri, who acted as his deag and mute wife and was herself nominated for Best Actor award by Filmfare for the same role. He then went on to star in the box office hits Seeta Aur Geeta, Manchali, and Aap Ki Kasam. As his fame grew, the producers and directors of the South wanted to remake their Temil and Telugu films in Hindi with either Kumar or Rajesh Khanna in the lead role. It was these Hindi film remakes which elevated him to a great actor. Then during the mid-1980s, North Indian producers and directors cast Sanjeev Kumar primarily in supporting roles in films like Khudaar, Sawaar, Hero, and Silsila.. However, South Indian directors continued to cast him in lead roles even in the period between 1980 to 1985. Although Kumar was an actor who played elderly roles, he died before the age of 50 due to a heart attack. Posthumously, more than 10 movies were released starring Sanjeev Kumar in which the storyline had to be altered to explain his absence.
The CHDS Radio Dil Se team would like to invite you to listen to our Sanjeev Kumar daily special today from 10 am – 11 am and 5 pm – 6 pm EST.
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