Raaj Kumar stood out for his unique manner of acting and dialogue delivery His screen presence was such that whenever he appeared with any hero, he will overshadow the person present in the frame. Most of the established heroes of that era avoided working with him.
He achieved prominence with his brief role as the husband of Nargis in Mother India.in 1957, He was paired with Dilip Kumar in Paigham(1959), he played Dilip Kumar's elder brother who is a mill worker and loyal to the owner of the mill. In a small role, he overshadowed Dilip Kumar who was an established actor at that time. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for that film.
He was cast with Rajendra Kumar in Dil Ek Mandir(1963), Raaj Kumar played the role of a cancer patient for which he won the Filmfare Award in the Best supporting actor category. He appeared in Godaan in the same year, gave a memorable performance.
He became known for his distinct style of dialogue delivery with the release of Waqt(1965). After this film, he was the most saleable actor. His other notable films included Hamraaz (1967), Heer Raanjha (1971), Maryada (1971), Lal Patthar (1971), and Pakeezah (1972).
After a period of flops in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he had notable successes as a supporting actor in Kudrat (1981), Ek Nai Paheli (1984), Marte Dam Tak (1987), Muqaddar Ka Faisla (1987), and Jung Baaz (1989). In 1991, he reunited with fellow veteran actor Dilip Kumar after 32 years in Subhash Ghai's Saudagar. His last hit film was the 1992 film Tirangaa and his final film was 1995's God & Gun.
Raaj Kumar died at the age of 69 due to throat cancer on July 3, 1996