Remembering Sanjeev Kumar: Interesting Facts About The Legendary Actor

On November 6, 1985, Indian Cinema lost a legendary actor Sanjeev Kumar in a massive heart attack. Counted among the greatest actors of the Indian Cinema, Sanjeev Kumar contributed his outstanding acting skills in the 60s and 70s. The actor who played mature and elderly roles like Thakur in Sholay (1975), died at a young of 47. Let's know some unknown facts about the 'Thakur' of Hindi Cinema.

He was born as 'Harihar Jethalal Jariwala' on 9 July 1938  in Surat, Bombay Presidency, British India.

He was an acting student of writer/ director P. D Shenoy ( writer of the film Shatranj)

He was given the screen name 'Sanjeev Kumar' by Sawan Kumar Tak (known for films like Ab Kya Hoga, 1977). Sawan spotted him in a play and produced " Naunhilal" with him.

He has done regional films in many different languages including Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Sindhi and his mother tongue Gujarati

He started his acting career as a theatre actor in the Indian People's Theatre Association in Mumbai and then worked with the Indian National Theatre

Sanjeev Kumar who was also known as 'Haribhai' in the film industry, debuted as a protagonist in 1965 in the film Nishan which was directed by Aspi Irani. The film starred actors like Nazima, Prem Chopra and Helen

He played nine roles in the film 'Naya Din Nayi Raat' ( remake of the Tamil film Navarathri, 1964), that represents the nine rasas (love, joy, disgust, fury, compassion, heroism, horror, astonishment and compassion)

Thanks to his realistic acting, soon he would become a regular in Gulzar’s films as well. In movies like Mausam, Namkeen, Angoor, and Aandhi, together they set the bar rather high for others to emulate. The thing about Sanjeev was that despite commanding the admiration of millions of fans, he never really allowed himself to be caught in an image of a star. Watch him in Sholay, Mausam, Trishul, and Koshish and you will understand what one is pointing at. In fact, often he played these roles where the other actors, often playing his sons, were much older than him. He played a dad to Shashi Kapoor in Trishul, while the virile Dharmendra in Sholay was also elder than him.

List of some awards that he received or was nominated for in his lifetime:

He won the National Film Award for Best Actor in 1971 for Dastak and 1973 for Koshish

Nominated for Best Actor, Filmfare Award in 1983 for Angoor (1982)

Won Best Actor Filmfare Award in 1977 for Arjun Pandit (1976)  and in 1976 for Aandhi (1975)

BFJA Best Actor: He won the award for his film Koshish in 1974

The legend blessed the Indian cinema with remarkable performances in films like Sholay, Aandhi, Angoor, Khilona, Koshish and many more. Sanjeev was an immensely popular star but he never married. It is reported that he was in love with Hema Malini (he even proposed to her, it is said) and later got involved with actor Sulakshana Pandit. Sadly, they never married and she reportedly chose to stay single even after his death. Sanjeev suffered his first heart attack in 1976. He went to the US and underwent a bypass. However, in November 1985, aged 47, he suffered a massive heart attack, which resulted in his death.

Sanjeev Kumar