Sanjeev Kumar (Actor)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sanjeev Kumar

• Did Sanjeev Kumar smoke?: Yes ^[9]Dailyhunt

  

• Did Sanjeev Kumar drink alcohol?: Yes ^[10]Filmfare

• Sanjeev Kumar was a popular Indian actor who had portrayed some iconic roles in Bollywood films, which are still deeply embedded in the memories of millions of people, and he was acclaimed as one of the greatest actors in Indian cinema.

• Reportedly, Sanjeev Kumar was not a first choice for the role of “Thakur” in Sholay, and it was Dharmendra, who desperately wanted to play the role of  “Thakur” in the film; However, after Ramesh Sippy convinced Dharmendra to play the role of “Veeru,” The role of Thakur eventually, went to Sanjeev Kumar.

  

• Harihar Jariwala, who was also known as Sanjeev Kumar, dropped out of his Gujarati medium school and joined the Indian National Theatre in Bombay.

• He was a student of writer and director P.D. Shenoy.

• It was Sawan Kumar Tak, an Indian film director, producer, and lyricist, who gave him the screen name Sanjeev Kumar during his Indian National Theatre days.

• Even in his 20s, he used to play roles that were way beyond his age and his level of maturity. One of them was Arthur Miller’s All My Sons adaptation in a theatre play, and during this time, he also played the role of a 60-year-old in one of A. K. Hangal’s plays.

• He loved his craft and tried to experiment with every other role he used to get that helped him to get films in languages other than his native languages, i.e., Hindi and Gujarati.

• He was brought into the limelight by Aspi Irani, an Indian film director, who offered him a lead role in Raja Aur Runk (1968), which went on to become one of the most successful films in his career.

  

•  Gulzar and Sanjeev Kumar were close friends and loved working with each other. Together some of their hits are ‘Parichay’ (1972), ‘Aandhi’ (1975), ‘Mausam’ (1975), ‘Namkeen’ (1982), ‘Angoor’ (1982), and ‘Koshish’ (1972).

• When asked in an interview about his best performance as an actor, Sanjeev Kumar answered “Koshish.” While describing the climax scene of the film, Sanjeev Kumar said,
  

  In that scene, I did not have any dialogue to speak, nor did I have any particular ca­mera placing to help my perfor­mance; it was completely the actor’s scene. Normally it is very difficult to get that type of a scene, where the director solely depends on the actor. If it had flopped it would have been my failure, no one else’s. I must thank Gulzar for giving me that scene, for placing all the confidence in me.”

• Sanjeev Kumar played the role of Jaya Bhaduri‘s father and father-in-law in Parichay (1972) and Sholay (1975), respectively. He also the role of her lover in Anhonee (1973) and Naya Din Nai Raat (1974).

• In Naya Din Nai Raat (1974), he portrayed nine different characters, making it one of the most challenging roles of his career; however, the film did not perform well in theatres.

• Sanjeev Kumar was known for his immense love for food, and he would often throw and attend nocturnal parties held at his home and the residences of other Bollywood actors.

  

• He never invested any money to buy his own house. Anju Mahendru, who was a close friend of Sanjeev Kumar, revealed this in an interview, she said,
  

  When Hari had, say hypothetically Rs 50, 000, the house would be costing Rs 80,000. Then when he had collected Rs 80,000, it would go up to a lakh.  And so on it went. All his life, the poor man never bought a home.”

• No one in Sanjeev Kumar’s family lived beyond 50 years of age due to natural health problems that ran through the family. Sanjeev Kumar also knew that he was going to die around 50 years of age. His younger brother Nakul died way before him, and his elder brother died after 6 months of his death.

  

• After his death, ten films in which he acted were released; Professor Ki Padosan (1993) being the last film to be released after his death.

•  A road in Gujarat’s Surat has been named after him, Sanjeev Kumar Marg.  It was inaugurated by Sunil Dutt.

  

• An NGO, Sanjeev Kumar Foundation, in Surat works with underprivileged children, providing them basic needs and amenities.