Patriotic Hero Manoj Kumar

                         

You may not remember a single Republic Day or Independence Day celebration, when Hindi song “ Mere Desh ki Dharati” was not played in the last half a century, anywhere in India.

You may like to know that this famous song is from 1967 Hindi film ‘Upkaar’. The film was produced and directed by actor Manoj Kumar, who also played role of hero in it.

There is an interesting story behind making of this film. After the 1965 war with Pakistan, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri asked Manoj Kumar to make a film on Shastri’s slogan ‘Jain Jawan, Jai Kisan’ ( Victory to Soldier and Victory to Farmer). Manoj Kumar went on to take the challenge and created the film and played the role of a farmer who turns to be a soldier when country needs his services. It went on to be a super hit  with song ‘Mere Desh Ki Dharti’, taking masses by storm. It was penned by Gulshan Bawra, it’s music was  composed by Kalyanji-Anandji and it was sung by Mahendra Kapoor. Kumar received his first Filmfare Best Director Award for the film ‘ Upkaar.’

Manoj Kumar went on to become famous for acting in and directing films with patriotic themes, and has been given the nickname "Bharat Kumar". Earlier in 1965, he had made a film on life of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, which was also a hit and it’s song ‘ Mera rang de basanti chola’ brought tears to the eyes of Indians.

The patriotic orientation of Manoj Kumar may be attributed to his early life and the hardship his family faced during partition of India upon independence. Kumar was born in North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), in Abbottabad, Pakistan in undivided India on 24 July 1937. His original name was Harikishan Giri Goswami. His family lived as refugees in Vijay Nagar, Kingsway Camp in Delhi after partition. Goswamis  later moved to Old Rajendra Nagar area of New Delhi.

Manoj Kumar graduated from Hindu College, University of Delhi. He chose to enter the film industry.

Apart from ‘Upkaar’ and ‘Shaheed’, Manoj Kumar made patriotic theme based other films including ‘Purab Aur Paschim’ in 1970, in which life in the East and West were compared.

For film ‘Be-Imaan’, Manoj Kumar won the Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1972. He also directed and acted  in ‘Shor’ in the same year, which had the memorable song ‘Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai’, which was a duet sung by great singers Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh.

Manoj Kumar (Middle), Shashi Kapoor (Right) and Amitabh Bachchan (Left) at the jubilee function of Roti Kapda Aur Makaan 1974

His film ‘Roti Kapda Aur Makaan’ made in 1974 commented on society in those days. The film  featured an all-star cast including Zeenat Aman, Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan. It  won Kumar his second Filmfare Award for Best Director.

Manoj Kumar reached the zenith  of his career as he got the opportunity to direct Dilip Kumar, to whom he  idolized, in 1981 film ‘Kranti’.  He also acted in that film telling  a story of the 19th century struggle for Indian independence. The film ‘Kranti’ was the last noteworthy successful film of Manoj Kumar’s career.

Apart from above patriotic and nationalism theme based films, Manoj Kumar acted in several other films created by noted  directors of his times and those films too were popular. These films include ‘ Gumnam’, ‘Woh Kaun Thi’, ‘ Sawan Ki Ghata’, Himalay Ki God Mein’, ‘Sanyasi ‘ and , and ‘Dus Numbri’. All his films even by different directors were noted for great music and are remember even to this day.

In 1992, Manoj Kumar was honoured with the civilian award ‘Padma Shri’ by the Government of India.

In the same period, he was given Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for a career spanning over 40 years apart from innumerable Filmfare trophies he got for several films earlier in his career.

In 2016, India's highest award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was given to  Manoj Kumar for his contribution to Indian Film industry