Rajendra Kumar Birth Anniversary: Everyone who enters the film world has their own story. Some have to struggle a lot while others get success quickly. Many great actors came to Hindi cinema but only one actor was called ‘Jubilee Kumar’ and his name was ‘Rajendra Kumar’. Rajendra Kumar got success for a short time but it was immense.
Rajendra Kumar had affairs even after marriage, created a different identity through films but when his last moments came, he refused to even undergo treatment. Today, i.e. on 20th July, Rajendra Kumar’s 95th birth anniversary is being celebrated. On this occasion, let us tell you some stories related to him.
Who was Rajendra Kumar?
Rajendra Kumar was born on 20 July 1929 in Sialkot (now Pakistan) of British India. Before partition, Rajendra Kumar’s father had a good clothing business setup in Sialkot. After partition, they came to Punjab and set up a small business here too.
Rajendra Kumar had decided to become an actor from a very young age and when he got a chance one day, he ran away from home with Rs 50 and went to Mumbai. Here he wandered from door to door but could not find work. When he got acquainted with some people, he got a job as an assistant in the film industry at a salary of Rs 150 per month.
Rajendra Kumar’s struggle and first film
According to reports, Rajendra Kumar also worked as a spot boy and did some other production work but he was not getting a chance to act. Gradually Rajendra Kumar got a chance to assist director H.S. Rawail. After assisting him for about 3 years, he got his first film Patanga (1949) but he did not have a lead role in it.
Producer Devendra Goyal noticed him and then cast him in the film Vachan (1955), this film became a hit and ran in theatres for about 25 weeks and this was Rajendra Kumar’s first ‘jubilee’ film. After this, his second film was a blockbuster named ‘Mother India’ (1957). After this, Rajendra Kumar never looked back.
Why was Rajendra Kumar called ‘Jubilee Kumar’?
After this, Rajendra Kumar gave many superhit films like ‘Sangam’, ‘Aarzoo’, ‘Aap Aaye Bahar Aayi’, ‘Geet’, ‘Mere Mehboob’, ‘Zindagi’, ‘Dhool Ka Phool’, ‘Talaash’, ‘Anjaan’, ‘Sasural’, ‘Aai Milan Ki Bela’, ‘Saathi’. It is said that some of Rajendra Kumar’s films did not leave the theatres for 25-25 weeks.
Rajendra Kumar was the only actor who had the most number of films and that is why he was called ‘Jubilee Kumar’. But times changed and more stars came and then Rajendra Kumar’s time started going down but still he worked as an actor and director till the 80’s.
Why were Rajendra Kumar’s last moments painful?
At the time when Rajendra Kumar was going through a downfall, Rajesh Khanna was climbing the ladder of success. During his downfall, Rajendra Kumar had to sell his lucky bungalow ‘Dimple’. You will be surprised to know that Rajendra Kumar’s bungalow was bought by Rajesh Khanna and was named ‘Aashirwad’. Actually, Rajendra Kumar had started feeling very weak and his hemoglobin was decreasing a lot, after getting tested it was found that he had blood cancer.
Around 1997, Rajendra Kumar was tired of getting treatment and he refused to get treatment. According to reports, Rajendra Kumar was in pain, was upset but did not get treatment. Then on 12 July 1999, Rajendra Kumar had a heart attack and he said goodbye to the world.
