Raj Young Generation Blog

Rajendra Kumar

HE REIGNED. The hits poured. In the 1960s,
the film trade labelled him 'Jubilee Kumar'.
Such was his track record of hits that heroines
fell over each other to be part of his films.
Born Rajendra Kumar Tuli, this handsome
Punjabi made his entry into Hindi filmsDas an
assistant director to.DH.S. Rawail who later
made the blockbuster 'Mere Mehboob with
Rajendra Kumar. That was when Kumar
was acknowledged as 'Jubilee Kumar'.

Every film he starred in would turn into pure gold, if not, then silver that was for sure. Though initially he learnt the ropes of filmmaking, Rajendra Kumar wanted to be an actor. He got his first chanceijas an actor when he played a walk-on part in the Dilip Kumar-starrer 'Jogan'. From then on, the thespian remained Rajendra's role model and he wasn't ashamed of emu-latingn Dilip Kumar's trag­edy-tinged heroism.

In films like 'Aarzoo', 'Dil Ek Mandir' and 'Sangam', Rajendra Kumar suffered silently in love. He was the Devdas of the 1960s. It took Rajendra Kumar H very little time to attain star­dom. After doing a bit role in 'Patanga' in 1949, RKwasG formally introduced by that hawk-eyed talent scout Kidar Sharma in 'Jogan'. In his first major role in 'Vachan' (1955), he was cast as Geeta Bali's brother. Rajendra Kumar's first lead role came in 1956 with 'Awaaz'. After he played the good son in Mehboob's 'Mother India', there was no stop­ping RK. He became type­cast as the ternal do-gooder, perishing piece by piece in pursuit of nobility and goodness. In 1959, Rajendra Kumar became a superstar with 'Goonj Uthi Shehnai'. Ironically, he did a music-less 'Kanoon' the very next year. And in 'Dhool Ka Phool', released almost si­multaneously with the syrupy, arcadian ro­mance 'Goonj Uthi Shehnai', Rajendra Kumar seduced and impregnated Mala Sinha and married Nanda. He was clearly eager to experiment with his roles. But the Hindi commercial cinema branded him as the goody-goody"Ram of Ramayan. The hits simply poured throughout the 60s — 'Aas Ka Pancchi', 'Sasural', 'Humrahi', 'Dil Ek Mandir', 'Aayi Milan Ki Bcla', 'Zindagi', 'Sangam', 'Aarzoo' and 'Suraj' were some of RK's block­busters in the 1960s. The downslide began soon after, with a spate of! (expensive flops like 'Aman', 'Jhuk Gaya Aasman', 'Palki', 'Saathi' and 'Shatranj'. By the 1970s, Rajendra Kumar had become an anachronism. But he struggled on with a spate of over-the-hilllportrayals in 'Ganwaar', 'Gaon Hamara Shehar Tumhara' and 'Tangewallah'. Though the downfall had dis­tinctly materializedn in the 1970s, RK deliv­ered al i hitD'Gora Aur Kala' at the height of the Rajesh Khanna wave. In the 1980s, Rajendra Kumar concentrated on his ison Kumar Gaurav's career. The star son was proudly and successfully launched in 'Love Story' in 1981.

There­ after, Rajendra Kumar continued to re-launch his son pe­riodically in 'Naam', 'Jurrat' and 'Phool'. But Gaurav couldn't carry forward his father's star legacy. In his last years, Rajendra Kumar had become a near-re­cluse. Finally, in 1999, Rajendra Kumar, who had never known a day's illness, suc­cumbed to a painful terminal illness. He died as tragically as the characters he loved to portray. Though critics considered him a non-actor, Rajendra Kumar was adored by his fans. The ladies specially loved his quivering lips and voice which conveyed immense pain and an absence of choice. Though RK dabbled in light-veined roles in his later years (for instance 'Do Jasoos' where he played a bumbling sleuth alongside friend and 'Sangam' co-star Raj Kapoor), the audience would always remember Rajendra Kumar as the Glycerine God. A careful planner and austere in money mat­ters, Rajendra Kumar was one of the few wise investors from his generation of actors. So what if the industry branded him a kanjoos behind his back? Rajendra Kumar's jubilee hits made 'many moviemakers rich.