Manoj Kumar

Manoj Kumar (born HarikrishanGoswami; 24 July 1937) is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. Heis known for acting and making films with patriotic themes, and has been given the nickname Bharat Kumar. He is the recipient of a National Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards, in varied categories. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1992 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2016 by the Government of India for his contribution to Indian cinema and arts.

Kumar was born into a Hindu Brahmin family in Abbottabad, a town in the North-West Frontier Province, British India (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). His birth name is Harikrishan Giri Goswami. When he was 10, his family migrated from Jandiala Sher Khan to Delhi due to the Partition. Kumar pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hindu College before trying his luck in films. When he was young, he admired actors Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Kamini Kaushal and decided to name himself Manoj Kumar, after Dilip Kumar's character in Shabnam.

1957-1964: Debut and rise to prominence

After making a little-noticed début in Fashion (1957), followed by forgettable roles in films like Sahara (1958), Chand (1959) and Honeymoon (1960), he landed his first leading role in Kaanch Ki Gudiya (1961). Piya Milan Ki Aas (1961), Suhag Sindoor (1961), Reshmi Roomal 1961) followed, but all of them sank without a trace.

This changed in 1962 when he starred in Vijay Bhatt's Hariyali Aur Rasta opposite Mala Sinha. It was a critical and commercial success. His other releases of the year - Shaadi and Dr. Vidya did average business.

He got his breakthrough with Raj Khosla's mystery thriller Woh Kaun Thi? (1964). The film emerged a box office hit and one of the major reasons for its success was the chartbuster music with highly popular songs, including "Lag Jaa Gale" and "Naina Barse Rimjhim" by Lata Mangeshkar.

1965-1981: Stardom

The year 1965 proved to be a big one for Kumar and saw his rise to stardom.

His first release was patriotic drama Shaheed, based on the life of Bhagat Singh, the Independence revolutionary. It received highly positive response from critics as well as the then PM of India Lal Bahadur Shastri and went on to become a hit at the box office.

This was followed by Vijay Bhatt's romantic drama Himalay Ki God Mein. It went on to become a blockbuster and made him a bankable star.

In the month of December, Kumar scored another hit withGumnaam.

Himalay Ki God Mein, Gumnaam and Shaheed were the 3rd, 8th and 11th highest-grossing films of the year respectively.

The success streak continued in 1966 when he reunited with Khosla for Do Badan alongside Asha Parekh, which was remembered for many reasons, including Khosla's direction, Kumar's performance and songs written by the lyricist Shakeel Badayuni, among others.

He delivered another hit in Shakti Samanta's Sawan Ki Ghata opposite Sharmila Tagore.

After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri asked him to create a film based on the popular slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kissan (hail the soldier, hail the farmer). The result was his directional debut, the patriotic drama Upkar (1967).

The film topped the box office chart in 1967, emerging an All Time Blockbuster. Upkar received critical acclaim and its music was also highly successful, especially "Mere Desh Ki Dharti" which is played during Republic Day and Independence Day of India. Upkar won him National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film and also his first Filmfare Best Director Award.

His next release Patthar Ke Sanam again went on to become a major commercial success, but Anita alongside Sadhana flopped.

In 1968, he co-starred alongside Raaj Kumar and Waheeda Rehman in Neel Kamal.

The same year, he reunited with Rehman for Aadmi which also starred Dilip Kumar in the lead.

Neel Kamal proved to a superhit at the box office, becoming the third highest-grossing film of 1968.

Aadmi also did reasonable business and was declared a semi-hit by the end of its run.

The year 1969 saw the rise of Superstar Rajesh Khanna who stormed the nation with the mega blockbuster Aradhana. His rise led to a decline in stardom of actors like Rajendra Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and Sunil Dutt. During this period, Dharmendra and Kumar were the only actors who remained unaffected by Rajesh Khanna Mania and kept delivering huge grossers.

Kumar's only release of 1969 was Sajan opposite Parekh. The film was a hit and ranked tenth among the highest-grossing films of that year.

He returned to patriotic themes in 1970 with Purab Aur Paschim, in which life in the East and West are juxtaposed. It proved to be a huge blockbuster in both India and overseas.

In United Kingdom, the film was released in 1971 and ran for over 50 weeks in London. It grossed £285,000 in the UK, equivalent to ₹2.5 million (US$332,252.41). It broke the UK box office record of another blockbuster Do Raaste, which had released in the UK a year earlier in 1970. Purab Aur Paschim held the UK record for 23 years which was finally broken by Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994).

His other releases of 1970 were - Yaadgaar, Pehchan and Mera Naam Joker.

While Yaadgaar was a box office failure, Pehchan opposite Babita proved to be a box office success and Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker in which he had a supporting role flopped commercially at the time of release, but gained cult status with the passage of time and its reputation was revived after India got introduced to world cinema.

In 1972, he starred in Sohanlal Kanwar's Be-Imaan and later directed and starred in Shor. The latter, opposite Nanda, was not a huge box office success, but received critical acclaim. It featured the memorable song Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai, a duet by Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh, which was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and written by Santosh Anand.

Kumar won his first and only Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in Be-Imaan and also Filmfare Award for Best Editing for Shor.

Kumar's peak came in the mid-1970s when he delivered three mega blockbusters in a row.

This started with the social drama Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (which he also directed). Apart from Kumar, the film starred Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman and Moushmi Chatterjee in the lead. Released on 18 October 1974, it emerged as the biggest grosser of the year and was given the verdict of All Time Blockbuster. Kumar won his second Filmfare Best Director Award for it.

In 1975, he reunited with Kanwar for Sanyasi which again proved to be a blockbuster.

With Dus Numbri in 1976, he completed his hat-trick of blockbusters.

Sanyasi and Dus Numbri were the third and highest-grossing films of 1975 and 1976 respectively.

In 1977, he had two releases with Shirdi Ke Sai Baba and Amaanat. Both films did not do well at the box office.

In 1979, he starred in hit Punjabi film Jat Punjabi.

In 1981, he directed and starred in historical drama Kranti alongside Dilip Kumar, Hema Malini, Shashi Kapoor, Parveen Babi and Shatrughan Sinha. Kranti went on to become the biggest patriotic hit of all time, topping the box office chart in 1981. It was the most successful film of the 80s and Kumar's third All Time Blockbuster after Upkar and Roti Kapada Aur Makaan.

Kranti also proved to be the last notable successful Hindi film in his career.

1987-1999: Later career

After Kranti in 1981, Kumar's career began to decline, when the films he did with him in lead role like Kalyug Aur Ramayan (1987), Santosh and Clerk (both in 1989) flopped at the box office. He quit acting after his appearance in the 1995 film Maidan-E-Jung. He directed his son, Kunal Goswami, in the 1999 film Jai Hind which had a patriotic theme. The film was a box office failure and the last film Kumar worked on.

He was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 for a career spanning over 40 years.

He consistently liked working with actors Prem Nath, Pran, Prem Chopra, Kamini Kaushal and Hema Malini in his career. His closest friends from the industry included Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajendra Kumar and Shashi Kapoor.

His trademark hand-covering-the-face was very popular and continues to be the butt of jokes of latter day stand-up comedians. In 2007, the Shah Rukh Khan film Om Shanti Om featured the lead character pretending to be Manoj Kumar so as to sneak into a movie premiere, by holding his hand over his face. Kumar filed a lawsuit, which was settled out of court.

Politics

Like many other Bollywood stars, Kumar decided to enter politics following his retirement. Before the 2004 general election in India, he officially joined Bharatiya Janta Party.

Actor

Director

• Upkar (1967)
• Purab Aur Paschim (1970)
• Shor (1972)
• Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974)
• Kranti (1981)
• Clerk (1989)
• Jai Hind (1999)

Civilian Award

National Film Awards

State Honours

Filmfare Awards

BFJA Awards

Other awards

• 2007 – Sardar Patel Lifetime Achievement International Award
• 2008 – Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2010 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th Mumbai Film Festival
• 2012 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Award
• 2012 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Nashik International Film Festival
• 2012 – Bharat Gaurav Award in New Jersey, United States
• 2013 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Jagran Film Festival
• 2019 – Lifetime Achievement Award from Power Brands at BFJA (Bollywood Film Journalists Awards)
• 2020 - Kalaimamani

Other honours

• 2008 – To honour Manoj Kumar, the Government of Madhya Pradesh decided to institute a Rs 100,000 award in his name. The state government also recommended Kumar's name for Bharat Ratna to the central government.
• 2011 – In recognition of the devotion of Manoj Kumar towards Shri Sai Baba, the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust in Shirdi renamed "Pimpalwadi Road" in Shirdi as "Manojkumar Goswami Road".

Kumar is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is noted for his patriotic films. One of the most successful actor of 1960s and 1970s, Kumar appeared in Box Office India's "Top Actors" list eight times, (1967-1969, 1972–1976). In 2022, he was placed in Outlook India's "75 Best Bollywood Actors" list.