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Sanjeev Kumar
Sanjeev Kumar thrived in the Indian Cinema industry despite his conventional looks. He in fact has defied many other Bollywood norms for heroes and film industry's so many unwritten rules. Sanjeev dared what other well-known actors could not.

He was just 35 years old when he chose to portray the character of an old aged man in the films Sholay, Aandhi and Mausam.

It is also interesting to note that Sanjeev Kumar has essayed these characters after only he had already proved himself as a very successful romantic hero in the movies like Anhonee, Anamika, Seeta Aur Geeta and Manchali.

Date Of Birth : 9th July 1938
Place Of Birth: Surat, Gujarat, India
Zodiac Sign: Cancer

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  • Sanjeev Kumar made his entry into the Bollywood industry as a hero in the year 1965 with the film Nishana which is still described as a Bollywood movie swashbuckler.

He won the National Film Awards for the Best actor category in the year:

1971 for the film Dastak – Hamid

1973 for the film Koshish – Haricharan

At the Filmfare Award he won the Best Actor-male award in the year:

1976 for the film Aandhi – J.K.

1977 for the film Arjun Pandit – Arjun Pandit

At the Filmfare Award he won the Best Supporting Actor-male award in the year:

1969 for the film Shikar – Inspector Rai

At the Filmfare Award he was nominated for the Best Actor-male award in the year:

1971 for the film Khilona – Vijaykamal S. Singh

1974 for the film Koshish – Hari Charan Mathur

1976 for the film Sholay – Thakur Baldev Singh

1977 for the film Mausam – Dr. Amarnath Gill

1978 for the film Yehi Hai Zindagi – Anand Narayan

1978 for the film Zindagi – Raghu Shukla

1979 for the film Devata – Tony/Tarun Kumar Gupta

1979 for the film Pati Patni Aur Woh – Ranjeet Chhadha

1983 for the film Angoor – Ashok R. Tilak

In the year 1974 he won the BFJA Best Actor award for the film Koshish.

  • He was definitely paid well as he was one actor who broke the stereotype of a hero in the Bollywood industry.



  • Sanjeev Kumar who was born on 9th of July in the year 1938 was an Indian actor. He was born to a Gujarati family based in a Mumbai slum and after a period in a film school he managed to get roles as Bollywood movie hero and eventually becoming a shining star of his time. He then gradually gained weight as the years passed and found himself portraying supporting roles rather than playing as the lead of the film. Sanjeev's first Bollywood film as a lead of the film was in the year 1965 with the Nishana which was described as a Bollywood movie swashbuckler.

  • In the year 1968 he played the role opposite the famous yesteryear actor Dilip Kumar in the film Sanghash. In the year 1970 the film Khilona made him the star of the Bollywood industry. He then went on to star in the hit films like Seeta Aur Geeta in the year 1972 and Manchali in the year 1973. He also started working with the famous director Gulzar in the early 1970's. He did nine films for the director Gulzar which also includes Aandhi in the year 1975, Mausam in the year 1975, Angoor in the year 1981 and Namkeen in the year 1982.

  • Many of his fans have rated that these are some of his best films that he has ever done. He was always ready to take eccentric roles that challenged the actor inside him. He played the role of Mirza who is a chess-obsessed Lucknow citizen in the film Shatranj Ke Khiladi in the year 1977. Possibly his best remembered role was his supporting role as Thakur Baldev Singh in the mega hit film Sholay in the year 1975 and Trishul in the year 1978. He was a very versatile actor and he portrayed nine different roles simultaneously in the movie Naya Din Nayi Raat in the year 1974.

  • This movie was based on the original Tamil film called Navarathri in which Sivaji Ganesan played the lead in the year 1964 and was also emulated by Akkineni Nageswara Rao in the Telugu movie Navarathri. During the early 1980's Sanjeev Kumar did supporting roles than lead roles. In the year 1985 he was only forty-seven years old when he died of a heart ailment. He was never married. It has been often reported that he was involved with the actress Sulakshana Pandit who wanted to marry him but he rejected the proposal of marriage because he could not get over his heartbreak after actress Hema Malini rejected his proposal of marriage to marry her repeated co-star Dharmendra.

  • Ironically for an actor like Sanjeev who played many elderly roles did not live to the age of even 50. Ten of his previously completed films were released only after his death with his final film being Professor Ki Padosan which was released in the year 1993. At the period of his death this film was complete only up to 75% and filmmakers decided to alter the story after the interval of the film to explain the absence of Sanjeev Kumar's character in the film. One of his other notable films released after his death was director K. Asif's much delayed Love and God which was in the making for over 20 years. After the ace director K. Asif died in the year 1971 the production came to a halt and the film was finally released in an incomplete form in the year 1986 that was one year after actor Sanjeev Kumar�s death.

  • Sanjeev Kumar was born with the name Haribhai Jariwala in Surat, Gujarat to a Gujarati Jain family. His first home was in Surat city and the family was actually based in Mumbai. A period in the film school took him to the Bollywood industry where he ultimately became a film star. He lived a bachelor life throughout and died because of a massive heart attack on 6th of November in the year 1985. He has two younger brothers and a sister. Sanjeev Kumar was never married but was reported to have been involved with actress Sulakshana Pandit whom he refused to marry as he was heartbroken of being turned down by the actress Hema Malini with whom he was in deep love at the time. Actress Hema Malini went on to marry her repeated co-star actor Dharmendra.