Raaj Kumar

                         

Raaj Kumar

Raaj Kumar (born Kulbhushan Pandit; 8 October 1926 – 3 July 1996), was an Indian film actor. He was a sub inspector in the Mumbai Police in the late 1940s before he turned to acting with the 1952 Hindi film Rangeeli. He appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1957 film Mother India and went on to star in over 70 Hindi films in a career that spanned over four decades.

Raaj Kumar
Born	Kulbhushan Pandit
	08-Oct-26
	Loralai, Baluchistan, British India
	(present-day Balochistan, Pakistan)
Died	3 July 1996 (aged 69)
	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Film actor
Years active	1952–1995
Spouse(s)	Jennifer "Gayatri" Pandit
Children	3, including Puru Raaj Kumar

Personal life

Raaj Kumar was born in Loralai, Baluchistan, British India, and now Pakistan in a Kashmiri Pandit family. In the late 1940s he moved to Mumbai, India where he became Sub Inspector under Mumbai Police. He married Jennifer, an Anglo-Indian, whom he met on a flight where she was an air hostess. She later changed her name to Gayatri as per Hindu customs. They had three children, sons Puru Raaj Kumar (a Bollywood actor), Panini Raajkumar and daughter Vastavikta Pandit, who made her screen debut in 2006 film Eight: The Power of Shani.

Career

Raaj Kumar made his acting debut in the 1952 film Rangili and appeared in films like Aabshar, Ghamand and Lakhon Mein Ek, but it was as Prince Naushazad in Sohrab Modi's Nausherwan-E-Adil (1957) that he became famous. In 1957, he achieved prominence with his brief role as the husband of Nargis in Mother India. He also worked alongside Shammi Kapoor in Ujala (1959). He followed this with the unglamorous role of a mill worker in Paigham (1959) alongside Dilip Kumar. In Sridhar's Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Raaj Kumar played the role of a cancer patient for which he won the Filmfare Award in the best supporting actor category. He was cast with Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor and Balraj Sahni in Yash Chopra's family drama Waqt in 1965. He became known for his distinct style of dialogue delivery.

His other notable films included Hamraaz (1967), Heer Raanjha (1971), Maryada (1971), Lal Patthar (1971) and Pakeezah (1972). After a period of flops in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he had notable successes as a supporting actor in Kudrat (1981), Ek Nai Paheli (1984), Marte Dam Tak (1987), Muqaddar Ka Faisla (1987) and Jung Baaz (1989). In 1991, he reunited with fellow veteran actor Dilip Kumar after 32 years in Subhash Ghai's Saudagar. His last hit film was the 1992 film Tirangaa and his final film was 1995's God & Gun.

From his screen debut in Rangili in 1952 to his last film God & Gun in 1995, he played memorable characters in 60-odd films.

Death

Raaj Kumar died at the age of 69 due to throat cancer. According to Puru Raaj Kumar in his interview to Farhana Farook, his father suffered from Hodgkins for which he had chemotherapy. The last two years were bad with the nodes recurring in the lungs and ribs.

Filmography

Sr No	Year	Title	Role	Notes
1	1952	Rangeeli
2	1952	Anmol Sahara
3	1953	Aabshar
4	1955	Ghamand
5	1957	Krishna Sudama
6	1957	Mother India	Shyamu
7	1957	Nausherwan-E-Adil	Shehzada Naushazad / Joseph
8	1958	Dulhan	Mohan
9	1958	Panchayat	Mohan
10	1959	Durga Mata
11	1959	Paigham	Ram Lal	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
12	1959	Shararat	Suraj
13	1959	Ardhangini	Prakash
14	1959	Swarg Se Sundar Desh Hamara
15	1959	Ujala	Kalu
16	1960	Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai	Dr. Sushil Verma
17	1961	Gharana	Kailash
18	1963	Dil Ek Mandir	Ram	Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
19	1963	Godaan	Hari
20	1963	Phool Bane Angaare	Captain Rajesh
21	1963	Pyar Ka Bandhan	Kalu
22	1964	Zindagi	Gopal
23	1965	Waqt	Raju / Raja	Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
24	1965	Kaajal	Moti	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
25				Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
26	1965	Oonche Log	Inspector Shrikant
27	1965	Rishte Naate	Sundar
28	1967	Hamraaz	Captain Rajesh
29	1967	Nai Roshni	Jyoti Kumar
30	1968	Mere Huzoor	Nawab Salim
31	1968	Neel Kamal	Chitrasen	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
32	1968	Vaasna	Kailash Chander
33	1970	Heer Raanjha	Ranjha
34	1971	Lal Patthar	Kumar Bahadur Gyan Shankar Rai
35	1971	Maryada	Raja Babu / Raj Bahadur
36	1972	Pakeezah	Salim Ahmed Khan
37	1972	Dil Ka Raaja	Raja Vichitra Raghupati Singh / Raja Raj Singh 'Raju'	Double Role
38	1973	Hindustan Ki Kasam	Rajib
39	1974	36 Ghante	Editor Ashok Rai
40	1976	Ek Se Badhkar Ek	Shankar
41	1978	Karmayogi	Shankar / Mohan	Double Role
42	1980	Chambal Ki Kasam	Thakur Suraj Singh
43	1981	Bulundi	Professor Satish Khurana
44	1981	Kudrat	Choudhary Janak Singh
45	1982	Dharam Kanta	Thakur Bhawani Singh
46	1984	Ek Nai Paheli	Upendranath
47	1984	Raaj Tilak	Samadh Khan
48	1984	Sharara	Dharamveer Singh Pathan
49	1987	Itihaas	Joginder Singh
50	1987	Marte Dam Tak	Sub Inspector Rane / Rana
51	1987	Muqaddar Ka Faisla	Pandit Krishnakant
52	1988	Mohabbat Ke Dushman	Rehmat Khan
53	1988	Saazish	Kailash
54	1988	Mahaveera	DSP Karamveer / Don
55	1989	Desh Ke Dushman	Sher Khan
56	1989	Jungbaaz	Advocate Krishna Prasad Saxena
57	1989	Galiyon Ka Badshah	Ram / Raja
58	1989	Suryaa	Rajpal Chauhan
59	1990	Police Public	CBI Inspector Jagmohan Azad
60	1991	Saudagar	Thakur Rajeshwar Singh
61	1992	Police Aur Mujrim	Police Commissioner Veer Bahadur Singh
62	1993	Insaniyat Ke Devta	Jailor Rana Pratap Singh
63	1993	Tirangaa	Brigadier Suryadev Singh
64	1994	Ulfat Ki Nayee Manzilen	Raj
65	1994	Betaaj Badshah	Raja Prithviraj
66	1995	Jawab	Ashwini Kumar Saxena
67	1995	God And Gun	Sahib Bahadur Rathore