Golden Era of Bollywood: Rajendra Kumar- The Jubilee Kumar

Monday, 20 July 2020

Rajendra Kumar- The Jubilee Kumar

It was between 1959 and 1966 that he reached the peak of his career and acquired the name of Jubilee Kumar which will be his for the times to come. There were times when he had six or seven films that had run for more than 25 weeks.
He made his film debut with a small role in Kidar Sharma's 1950 film Jogan, opposite Dilip Kumar and Nargis.that was a Jubilee hit. His first film as a hero was 'Vachan'released after 5 years of his debut was also a Jubilee hit.
He got further success with his supporting role in Mehboob Khan's blockbuster epic film Mother India in 1957 in which he played Nargis's character's son. His first major success as a romantic leading man was in Amit Saxena's musical Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959), co-starring Ameeta.
He came at a time when Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, and Raj Kapoor were ruling the Bollywood, he established himself and gave one hit film by another hit. In 1961, he had 8 films released out of these 5 films were Jubilee hit. The first film released that year was Pyaar Ka Saagar, then Aas Ka Panchhi, which was also the first film of filmmaker J Omprakash,, Gharana was the next followed by Sasural and Dharamputra, all were hit.
Some of his hit films of 60s are Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Mere Mehboob (1963), Sangam (1964), Ayee Milan Ki Bela (1964), Arzoo (1965), Suraj (1966), Talash (1969) and Ganwaar (1970). He received the Filmfare Nomination for Best Actor for Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Ayee Milan Ki Bela (1964), Arzoo (1965), and as Best Supporting Actor for Sangam (1964)
But just when he was at his zenith after Suraj, the sun began to slowly set on Rajendra's career. Whether it was Aman and Palki [1967], Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan, and Saathi [1968] or Shatranj [1969], his films were disappointments. By that time Rajesh Khanna emerged as Super Star, he started giving hits after hits.
Rajendra Kumar was born on 20th July 1929 and died on July 12, 1999, Rajendra Kumar, an ace at playing a doctor grappling with life-threatening diseases (Dil Ek Mandir, Saathi), finally succumbed to cancer.