PEOPLE WE LIKE: Sanjeev Kumar

ENDURING IMAGE

Sanjeev Kumar was one of the rare star-actors, who never let himself be chained by an image. While his contemporaries were busy playing games of one-upmanship, he went for the meaty parts, grabbed all the awards and left behind a legacy of unforgettable roles and films.

Born Haribhai Jariwala, and starting his acting career on the stage, Sanjeev Kumar rose to become one of the best actors of Hindi cinema, tackling all kinds of roles with relish and constantly springing surprises on the audience.

He was fortunate that he had the support of directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Bhattacharya, Gulzar,  Raghunath Jhalani,  Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy even Satyajit Ray – across the borders of commercial, middle-of-the road and art cinema --who helped him to bring alive so many diverse characters.

His admirable versatility can be seen in films like Naya Din Nayi Raat (in which he played nine roles),  Angoor (in which his superb comic talents came to the fore in a double role),  Koshish (as a deaf-mute) Khilona (as a mad man), Trishul,  Arjun Pandit, Namkeen, Devta, and of course the immortal Thakur of Sholay.

He made a very successful team with director Gulzar with whom he did the most films, and actress Jaya Bhaduri playing her romantic lead in Anamika, Nauker and Koshish as well as her father in Parichay and father-in-law in Sholay.

His other memorable films are Mausam in which he starred opposite Sharmila Tagore, Manchali with Leena Chandravarkar, Aandhi with Suchitra Sen, Pati Patni Aur Woh with Vidya Sinha, Anubhav with Tanuja,  Grihapravesh with Sharmila and Sarika,  in which, with the supreme security of the truly talented, he let the heroines play the more important parts. He was a generous actor, never trying to undermine his less gifted co-stars, but managing to outshine the best of them.

When Satyajit Ray made his only Hindi filmv Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Sanjeev Kumar had to be in it;  whenever any director needed an actor to handle a difficult role,  the only one he thought of was Sanjeev Kumar—he played old men, funny men, wicked men and even a few swashbucklers—there was no demanding role he couldn’t or wouldn’t do. He is undoubtedly the only actor who has done such a dizzying variety of films with directors who had completely different styles, and it would be very difficult to name a film in which he did not give a good performance or left the filmmaker disappointed.

Sadly, Sanjeev Kumar passed away tragically early, remained a bachelor in spite of being linked to a few leading ladies of his time, and even in a career abruptly cut short left behind a body of work that could be included in any text book of acting.   Some of his contemporaries who were then bigger, better paid, handsomer and more popular stars, have been forgotten,  while Sanjeev Kumar is still admired and missed — definite proof that stardom may fade, but talent always survives.