Golden Era of Bollywood: Remembering Sanjeev Kumar-The Versatile Actor

On the 32nd Death Anniversary, we bring to you some interesting facts about Sanjeev Kumar the man who was known for his older roles, died at a young age. Sanjeev Kumar died on November 6, 1985 at the age of 47 due to a heart attack.He started his acting career as a theatre actor got his first break in hindi film as hero in Nishan which was directed by Aspi Irani.released in 1965
He never minded playing small roles or playing older roles. He played older roles and always cared about the scope of the roles.Sanjeev Kumar was known for his iconic roles in the films like Sholay, Trishul, Shikar, Pati Patni Aur Woh etc

Sanjeev Kumar in Nishaan

He was born on 9 July 1938 in a Gujarati family at Surat as Harihar Jethalal Jariwala. He made his film debut with a small role in Hum Hindustani in 1960.In 1970, the movie Khilona brought Kumar recognition. In 1972, he played in an Indo-Iranian film, Subah aur Shaam. This was when director Gulzar first spotted him; later he cast Kumar in the roles of older men in Koshish (1973), Aandhi (1975) and Mausam (1975)
Sanjeev Kumar was nominated for 14 Filmfare Awards, thrice as Best Supporting Actor and the remaining as Best Actor. He won the awards twice as Best Actor and once as Best Supporting Actor.He got 2 National Awards from the Govt.of India.

He won the BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) 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 deaf and mute wife and was herself nominated for Best Actor award by Filmfare for the same role.
Some of his important films are Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Manchali (1973) Aap Ki Kasam (1974), Aandhi (1975), Mausam (1975). Swarg Narak (1978) Biwi O Biwi (1981),Pati, Patni Aur Woh, Angoor (1982),Naya Din Naya Raat and Hero (1983)

His role as Mirza Sajjad Ali, a chess-obsessed Lucknowi (citizen of Lucknow), in Satyajit Ray's classic Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) exemplified that aspect. Perhaps his best remembered roles were in the blockbuster films Sholay (1975) and Trishul (1978). His portrayal of the character Thakur, from Sholay, released in August 1975 was one of his stellar performances. In Naya Din Nayi Raat (1974) he played Nine Roles ,Beside hindi films he has done many regional films in different languages including Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Sindhi and his mother tongue Gujarati.
Songs of Sanjeev Kumar