An Actor’s Actor-Sanjeev Kumar: The Authorised Biography of Sanjeev Kumar

A riveting black and white picture of the late actor, in mid-close, looking a little to his right, greets you on the cover of this eminently readable biography of the actor, who, arguably, was an actor’s actor. And so, the authors, Mumbai-based Hanif Zaveri and Delhi-based Sumant Batra, are not exaggerating when they give him that exalted title. As far as the ‘authorised’ bit is concerned, the duo have spoken to so many members of his family, and a multitude of men and women who figured in his life, that one tends to agree with their claim.

Born on 09 July, like another tragic genius, Guru Dutt, Sanjeev too had a short life. He died in 1985, aged 47. That is no age to die, for anyone, and for an actor who was regarded as the among the best in the business, it was a career mercilessly curtailed. Sanjeev Kumar had a congenital condition, and his father too had died at the age of 47. His last few films were incomplete when he passed away, and some of them were released with his voice dubbed. Nine years after his death, in 1994, a film called Professor Ki Padosan came to cinema halls, starring Sanjeev Kumar. How it was put together is anybody’s guess.

My own first memory of Sanjeev Kumar is the film Nishan, a black and white stunt film that I saw at Capitol Theatre, next to my school, cutting class (I believe ‘bunking’ is the more common word). It was his first lead role, though he had done minor roles in Hum Hindustani and Aao Pyar Karein. I, all of ten years old, watched mesmerised as he put life and soul into a B-grade vehicle, sword-fencing and singing songs composed by Usha Khanna and rendered by Mohammed Rafi. I remember gushing over his performance and telling my friends that one day, this actor would rub shoulders with India’s best actor of that era, Dilip Kumar. I was not wrong. Just a few years later, Sanjeev had earned so much admiration that he was cast opposite Dilip Kumar in a film called Sunghursh. The chess scene of that film, where these two are pitted against one another and Sanjeev is planning to have Dilip Kumar killed, remains a lesson in acting 54 years later. And look the modest Sanjeev Kumar says, as quoted in the biography, “Dilip Kumar is Dilip Kumar. Nobody can beat him.”

To my utmost joy, when I got my first bit role in a film, it was in Anamika, and I had my first scene with him, A.K. Hangal, Asrani and Baby Pinky. (See picture). Sadly, that was the only time he and I worked together. Meanwhile, Sanjeev continued to achieve landmark after landmark, with films like Anokhi Raat, Dastak, and a film that was conceived with Guru Dutt in mind. That was Khilona. It was based on a Gulshan Nanda novel, Pathhar Ke Hont. Producer L.V. Prasad postponed Khilona because Guru Dutt was shooting for K. Asif’s Love and God. But Guru Dutt passed away, and in came Sanjeev Kumar, to perform brilliantly.

Amazingly, K. Asif replaced Guru Dutt with Sanjeev Kumar in Love and God, but the doomed film was incomplete when K. Asif himself passed away. Bad luck plagued him again, when he was dropped from Kamal Amrohi’s Shankar Hussain, wherein Amrohi wanted to change his name to Gautam Rajvansh. Born Harihar Jariwala in Mumbai, to Jethalal and Shantaben Jariwala, and named after Lord Krishna, Sanjeev felt his name was not befitting an actor, and changed it to Sanjay Kumar, after consulting some friends from theatre. But there was already a Sanjay (later with the suffix Khan) in the industry, and so, Aspi, the director of Nishan, told him to change his name again. This time, he chose Sanjeev Kumar.

Does the book address issues like the legendary miserliness of Sanjeev Kumar, his ‘affairs’ with Hema Malini and Nutan, his weakness for alcohol? Surprisingly, it does. Among his best efforts, the authors choose Koshish (1972, he played a deaf-mute), Sholay (1975, a man without arms), Trishul (1978, a magnate with a past), Pati Patni Aur Woh (1978, in a ‘triangle’ involving his wife and his secretary), Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977, directed by Satyajit Ray, as a member of Wajid Ali Shah’s court when the British were taking over India), Silsila (1981, a multi-starrer, along with Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri and Shashi Kapoor), Angoor (1982, a comedy about two pairs of identical twins) and Namkeen (1982, his last film with writer-lyricist-director Gulzar).

But for many like me, it will be Naya Din Nayi Raat (1974), wherein he played nine different roles, that ranks right up there. It was a remake of a Tamil film and failed at the box office, but what was so special about the film was that it was first offered to Dilip Kumar. Kumar, who had played a double role in Ram Aur Shyam, was at that time starting work on a film called Bairaag, in which he had a triple role. That, he felt, would make the audience lose interest in a nine role film starring him. If they would have seen three roles, nine would not be too much of a surprise. During Sunghursh, he had been so impressed with Sanjeev that he suggested to the producer and director of Naya Din Nayi Raat to cast Sanjeev instead. They agreed. And, what’s more, in the beginning of the film, Dilip Kumar lent his voice in praise of the performance of Sanjeev Kumar, something unheard of.

A word about the authors: Hanif Zaveri, the man with the beard, is an author, journalist, actor and playwright. As a journalist, I have seen him active in the field for about 40 years now, though he might be even more senior. His first book was Mehmood: A Many of Many Moods, published many years ago. You can reach him on hanif_zaveri@yahoo.com. By contrast, Sumant Batra is an eminent insolvency (bankruptcy) lawyer, rated among the top 100 by Global Restructuring Review. Besides, he is a senior international consultant to the IMF, World Bank Group, and OECD. He is the author of a coffee table book, The Indians, that includes a foreword by Cherie Blair. He can be contacted on sb@sumantbatra.com. The book’s cover photograph is courtesy the Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation, and the cover design is by Anubha Jain.

Among those who have showered praise on the book, and are quoted, are Rahul Rawail (whose father H.S. Rawail produced and directed Sunghursh), director Ramesh Talwar (who assisted Yash Chopra in many films, some of which starred Sanjeev) and his Dastak co-star, Rehana Sultan. The hardbound edition of An Actor’s Actor-The Authorised Biography of Sanjeev Kumar, in 220 pages, has a Foreword by Shatrughan Sinha, is in 22 chapters, has eight pages of black and white photographs, another eight pages of colour and B&W photos, a list of awards won by Sanjeev Kumar (three Filmfare Awards, two National Film Awards), a filmography that tells us he acted in 155 Hindi films and 11 regional language films, and a list of a staggering 110 interviews that the authors conducted to compile this book. A Penguin Random House Ebury Press publication, it is priced at Rs. 599, but will surely be available on the internet at a considerably lower price.

If you want to know about the life and times of one of Hindi cinema’s top ten all-time great actors, order it as soon as convenient. Such valuable books have a habit of going out of print.