Sanjeev Kumar-Actor par excellence

MiniRulz · **Joined:** Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:32 pm **Posts:** 1702

hello friends,
Starting a new topic to discuss some yesteryears and current actors who have left a mark in the industry and in our hearts with their hard work in the film industry.We will be showcasing one actor every week or 2 weeks.We can discuss the actor-their work,life and whatever you may want to related to the actor..

Beginning the thread with an actor par excellence-Sanjeev Kumar who I feel did not get his due in the industry.I am taking some excerpts from articles and also posting some trivia on him..please feel free to add.

Hindi film industry has seen many stars, but not many actors in the true sense of having essayed a gamut of roles, each as different from the other. The variety of expressions that he possessed has not been matched by many, and he is still considered to be an exponent in portrayal of sensitivity or complex emoting, letting the viewer know the feelings of the character without speaking a word.

Born Harihar Jariwala on 09 July, 1938 in Surat, in a Gujarati family, acting bug hit him at quite an early age.Not having an enviable academic record, he enrolled himself in Filmalaya Acting School, and learned the tricks of the trade.

The unconventional and versatile choices he made have not been surpassed by anyone till date. In both Aandhi and Mausam, he essayed the role of a young man in love, and then the aged person with an inner conflict, contemplating a future which is no more. In Mausam, he lived the role of a deaf & mute Harichand Mathur, who, along with his deaf & mute wife, played sensitively by Jaya Bhaduri, wins over the hurdles of life. Both were sent to learn the sign language for the school of specially gifted children. In Naya Din Nayee Raat, he played nine roles, based on ‘navrasa’, where he revolutionised the concept of getting into the skin of the character, and method acting by way of a complete transformation – get up, clothes, voice modulation, and body language. It was not an art many believed in those days.

Arguably his most memorable role of Thakur Baldev Singh, in Sholay, was something that probably he was born to play. Even without his hands, (which incidentally, were no less than a ‘phaansi-ka-phanda’), he manages to send shivers down the spine of the most celebrated villain of our times – Gabbar Singh. His first film as a hero was ‘Nishaan’ in 1965, but what put him on pedestal was his first hit, ‘Khilona’ in 1970, making him a household name, and an acting prowess to reckon with.

Gulzar, known for the sensitive portrayals of human-psychology, who never compromised on quality of acting in his movies, used to swear by the intricate weaving of emotions that Sanjeev Kumar would manage without breaking a sweat. They had one of the most cinematically fulfilling association, and most of Gulzar’s landmark movies had him playing the role of the main protagonist with great conviction, be it Aandhi, Mausam, Parichay, Koshish, Angoor or Namkeen. Even Satyajit Ray, the master of realistic cinema, chose him to play the central character in his only mainstream Hindi movie – Shatranj Ke Khiladi. At the same time, he became almost a lucky mascot for the king of commercial cinema, Yash Chopra, and gave us some gems like Trishul, Kala Patthar and Silsila.

He was known mostly for serious roles, but did some light/comedy roles also. Anamika, Seeta Aur Geeta, Manchali, Baat Ban Jaaye, Angoor, Biwi-o-Biwi, Naukar, Manoranjan, Raja Aur Rank, Swarg Narak, Pati Patni Aur Woh are some of the most memorable films that easily come to mind.

The winner of 2 National Awards, and the exponent of portraying the complex emotions in the most simple and under-stated manner, had never married, probably because his love for Hema Malini remained unrequited. So depressed was he with the concept of love, and the complicated mechanisms of the heart, that he decided to lead his own life very simple, as if he were playing any character from one of those Gulzaar movies, by not getting married ever. Grapevine says once he even rebuked the offer of marriage from Sulakshana Pandit.

His sudden demise on Nov 6, 1985 due to a heart-attack at the age of 47, left all his fans and colleagues stunned. So unexpected was it that at the time of his death, there were at least ten movies he was working in. Most of them were completed with major story changes to justify the absence of his character, and were released much after his demise. Professor Ki Padosan, Love & God, Qatl, Baat Ban Jaaye were some such movies.

my personal favorites of Sanjeev Kumar-aandhi,namkeen,trishul,naya din nayi raat,anokhi raat,sholay,dastak,mausam,angoor

I simply love this photo taken during the shooting of sholay..do you know what they are looking at??they were all watching asrani rehearse his 'angrezon ke zamaane ka jailor 'dialogues...

Narendra Kusnur · **Joined:** Thu Mar 05, 2009 5:43 am **Posts:** 179

I agree. Actor par excellence. My top 10 SK films would be
1) Khilona
2) Mausam
3) Angoor
4) Aandhi
5) Sholay
6) Anamika
7) Naya Din Nayee Raat
8) Trishul
9) Manoranjan
10) Aap Ki Kasam

Sadly I haven't seen Namkeen... will try and get a DVD asap

Anuradha · **Joined:** Sat Oct 18, 2008 3:53 am **Posts:** 1780

My mother is a die hard fan of Sanjeev Kumar..

Even if she is busy, she would come to watch his movie..

Angoor, Khilona and Aandhi are classics.. Angoor is heights of everything.. Even after bi-hearting the dialogues, I roll everytime I watch the movie

*Pachu* · **Joined:** Wed May 13, 2009 8:13 pm **Posts:** 3

All his movies are timeless classic!! But i think Angooor stands out!!! Hillarious!!!!

you dont get bored no matter how many times u watch it!!!

Bhaskar · **Joined:** Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:18 am **Posts:** 1062

*Pachu* wrote:

All his movies are timeless classic!! But i think Angooor stands out!!! Hillarious!!!!

you dont get bored no matter how many times u watch it!!!

Welcome Pachu

Its so nice to be together again discussing issues.

Thanks Mini for the topic. And the best person to start with too.

Sanjeev Kumar really was an actor par excellence. If you notice most his films were with female characters being more strong. But he has always made sure to keep his individuality intact in the film and also leave a mark.

He could do comedy with as ease as he did serious roles like that in Aandhi or Koshish. Well Koshish he was just awesome.

MrspetloverUS · **Joined:** Wed Nov 05, 2008 12:55 am **Posts:** 265

Narendra Kusnur wrote:

I agree. Actor par excellence. My top 10 SK films would be
1) Khilona
2) Mausam
3) Angoor
4) Aandhi
5) Sholay
6) Anamika
7) Naya Din Nayee Raat
8) Trishul
9) Manoranjan
10) Aap Ki Kasam

Sadly I haven't seen Namkeen... will try and get a DVD asap

I will add "Koshish" to this list....Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri superb movie....

Kirti · **Joined:** Sun Oct 26, 2008 4:36 am **Posts:** 153

Aandhi and Angoor ... two of my favs ... two disparate roles, but he played them so brilliantly! Pity we lost him so early!

MiniRulz · **Joined:** Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:32 pm **Posts:** 1702

Kirti wrote:

Aandhi and Angoor ... two of my favs ... two disparate roles, but he played them so brilliantly! Pity we lost him so early!

kirtiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

where have been for so long??

Sanjeev kumar started drinking heavily after hema malini rejected his proposal..sulakshana pandit had written once she and SK were at hanuman mandir in delhi and she asked him to put sindoor on her forehead and get married.but he was so much in love with HM that he just couldn't..You know what the irony is Hema rejected him for dharmendra who has always lived with his first wife Prakash and just visits HM regularly..
trivia time-dharmendra was given the role of thakur first and sanjeev kumar of veeru-but when dharmendra realised that SK would get all the time to woo Hema,he decided to play veeru..

Sanjeev Kumar-Actor par excellence

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