MUMBAI : The saying goes, ‘A flame that burns twice as bright, lasts half as long!’ Numerous close relatives of Sanjeev Kumar think that this sums up the star's life the best he was lovingly referred to as Haribhai. Born on July 9, 1938, the actor passed away at the age of 47 on November 6, 1985. This was the actor's 165th film appearance; 155 of them were in Hindi and 10 were in other languages.
In Sanjeev Kumar: The Actor We All Loved, Paresh Rawal described a chat he had with Sanjeev Kumar's manager, Jamnadas. Jamnadas stated, “Paresh, agar Amitabh Bachchan ka baap banna hai to Sanjeev Kumar hi ban sakta hai! Aur kaun banega? (Who but Sanjeev Kumar can match Amitabh Bachchan on the screen?)”
(Also read: Saptak to pay tribute to Sanjeev Kumar in The Legends 2
Sanjeev thus featured in numerous films, such as the popular Sholay (1975), Trishul (1978), Mausam (1975), Sawaal (1982), and Devata (1978), in which he played an elderly role.
Sanjeev played RK Gupta in Trishul when he was 40 years old, the father of Shashi Kapoor's Shekhar Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan's Vijay Kumar. He was thirty-seven when he played Thakur in Sholay.
While, many would think why did the actor take up such older roles at a young age when other A-listers would refuse to get typecast in such roles, Tabassum–the late actress who shares her birthday with Sanjeev Kumar and has worked with him in the film Alibaba Aur 40 Chor, among others–revealed in one of her earlier YouTube videos that Sanjeev was obsessed with older roles.
She recalled in Tabassum Talkies, “I asked him once, why are you so obsessed with older roles? He revealed to me, ‘Tabassum, a palm reader once predicted that I wouldn’t live long and I won’t see older age. This is why I play older roles in films to live that life which I am not fated to otherwise.'”
Sanjeev Kumar’s journey of playing older roles began back when he was in theater. AK Hangal recalled in an interview with Lehren Retro, “When I was working in theatre, Sanjeev Kumar had approached me for work. Then I gave him a role of an old man in a drama. He was a very mature man.”
Sachin Pilgaonkar, who has shared the screen with Sanjeev Kumar, told Bollywood Aaj Aur Kal, “Haribhai was a Gujarati man. He had worked immensely on Gujarati stage with Sohrab Modi ji. He then joined IPTA. The first role he bagged in the Hindi theatre was of an old man. He played the husband to theatre icon Shaukat Azmi (mother of Shabana Azmi). Maybe it was since then only that people assumed that despite the guy being in his 20s, he is capable of playing older roles better.”
Though the Trishul star was obsessed with roles of elderly men and the industry trusted him with such roles opposite stars like Big B, Sanjeev Kumar is regarded as an actor who was best at everything he did. His films Angoor, Koshish, Khilona and Pati Patni Aur Woh stand as a testament to his versatility.
According to Paresh Rawal, the audience used to sigh with relief when Sanjeev entered the frame, ‘Nothing can go wrong now!’ In the book, Sanjeev Kumar: The Actor We All Loved, Paresh Rawal claims, “He was director’s fail-safe artiste, an avatar all in his own league to perform and enthrall.”
Many filmmakers trusted Sanjeev Kumar, who was compared to Hollywood actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, to play both character roles and difficult major roles with similar tenacity.
In a short period, Sanjeev achieved numerous firsts in his acting career. With his 1981 film Chehre Pe Chehra, he became the first actor in Hindi cinema history to apply prosthetic makeup.
In the 1974 film Naya Din Nai Raat, he played nine separate parts, becoming the first actor to do so. One of the first films to be banned in independent India was the actor's 1975 movie Aandhi.
Sanjeev Kumar, 47, passed away on November 6, 1985, at the age of 47 from a severe heart attack. He lived life on his terms and stayed single until his last breath.
(Also read: Sanjeev Kumar's biography unlocks his special bond with Sivaji Ganesan
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Credit- The Indian Express
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