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The story of success

Dinesh Raheja and Jitentra Kothari

For seven years, from 1959 to 1966, success had a torrid affair with Rajendra Kumar. He tilled the same emotional soil as Dilip Kumar but, at one point, his

A recent photograph of Rajendra Kumar

legions of fans seemed to overwhelm even that of the original tragedy king. Using every generic gimmick -- from quivering lips to flailing arms -- Rajendra won over the audience and was given the appellation 'the jubilee star'.

But he had to undertake a long, arduous trek to reach this peak. A Punjabi on the wrong side of the border after the Partition of 1947, a teenaged Rajendra walked with his family, the long torturous miles to India. Haunted by the sight of his six-month-old brother almost falling victim to the trek and by the images of people scrambling for food packets dropped by relief planes, Rajendra Kumar remains careful with his millions even to date.

Arriving in Bombay with a letter of introduction to lyricist Rajendra Kishen in his pocket, Rajendra found the going hard and even worked as an uncredited extra in films like Mela (1948). His first major role came seven achingly long years later in Vachan (1955). From playing Geeta Bali's brother in Vachan, to the small role of the good son in Mother India (1957), to his first hit as a hero, Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959), Rajendra's success story is a vindication of the fact that whatever toll the partition of India took, it could not claim the Indian spirit as its casualty.

After 1959, Rajendra Kumar was seen to hold a tenable link with success. He exhibited a remarkable aptitude for suffering, as evidence in several variations of the sentimental theme. Whether in medical melodramas (Dil Ek Mandir), Muslim socials (Mere Mehboob), fraternal sacrifice sagas (Arzoo) or south Indian family fare (Sasuraal), he made many a girl in the audience tremble in excitement with his quivering voice. As a result, he was also labelled 'the romantic', whose films often saw him dying in the end, forever cheated of fulfillment.

He was most restrained and handsome in his friend, Raj Kapoor's Sangam (1964). This on-screen martyr, however, was no masochist off-screen. Upset at the allegations towards his character in the song Dost dost na raha from Sangam, Rajendra insisted on writing a line that would acquit his character: 'Jo geetkar pe guzri, usne apne geet mein keh diya. Magar dost, kuch log aise bhi hote hai, jinpe guzarti hai, magar woh chup rehte hain.' (You expressed yourself through your song, but, my friend there are also those who suffer and yet choose not to say anything.)

With son, Kumar Gaurav Click for bigger pic!

Such undiluted martyrdom went out of fashion in the late 60s and Rajendra Kumar's career petered off. In 1981, he turned producer with the superhit Love Story, the film that launched his son, Kumar Gaurav. Several later films could not reproduce that early magic and, concurrently, relations were strained between father and son, leading to Gaurav shifting to his father-in-law, Sunil Dutt's house. However, Rajendra Kumar still glowed with filial love when he remarked: "Whichever film I produce will, of course, star my son." The expansive Punjabi was as defined by emotionalism as his famous films.

Excerpted from The Hundred Luminaries Of Hindi Cinema by Dinesh Raheja and Jitendra Kothari, India Book House, Rs 295, with the publisher's permission.

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