Rajender Kumar's contribution to Indian Cinema:
By: Souvik Chatterji
Rajender Kumar, better known as Jubilee Kumar, was one of the unsung heroes in Indian films, who entertained millions of film lovers with his soft style of acting during the golden age, but did not receive the recognition he deserved. Rajender Kumar, born on 29th July, 1929, made his debue in the film Jogan in 1950, where the main character was played by legendary actor Dilip Kumar. In the 50s he got recognition in Mehboob Khan's film Mother India, 1957, where he played the role of the son of Nargis.
But his romantic image was created in the film Dhool Ka Phool, 1959, and Goonj Uthi Sehnai, 1959. He started moulding himself with the image of tragedian like Dilip Kumar, and songs in the film Goonj Uthi Sehnai, composed by Vasant Desai and sung by Rafi including "jeevan me priya tera saath rahe" created an immortal combination of Rafi with Rajender Kumar, which dominated bollywood films for another 15 years.
Rajender Kumar, was successful to portray the poetic community of Aligarh, Lucknow, etc. in the film Mere Mehboob, 1963, where he formed a new romantic pair with Sadhna, and the ghazals in the film "mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam" reached the urdu speaking audience across middle east and stretched beyond India. He did not show any mannerism and sung the song with a microphone at the university hall. In Dil Ek Mandir, 1963 and Sangam, 1964, Rajender Kumar played the role of the central hero who was admired by Meena Kumari and Vaijiayantimala respectively in those films, but had to sacrifice his love for the benefit of the other friends. In both the films Rajender Kumar died at the end of the films. In Sangam, 1964, the film that gave the maximum revenue to showman Raj Kapoor, when Rafi's song "ki tum naraz na hona" was played at the end of the film, when Raj Kapoor and Vaijayantimala immersed his ashes in Tribeni waters at Allahabad where river Ganges and Yamuna had met, the filmlovers were all in tears. His image of sacrifice in each and every film made him a legend and he received the title of Jubilee Kumar, as his major films from 1963 to 1966, all ended up in golden jubilees.
Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi had a great role to play in the success of Rajender Kumar. Probably other than Raj Kapoor, Shankar Jaikishan had not shown the amount of devotion towards rich, melodious music, the way it was displayed in each and every film of Rajender Kumar. Rafi's songs in the film Humrahi, "yeh ansoo meri dil ki zuban hai," "mujhko apne gale lagalo" were as majestic as Rajender Kumar's lips and Shankar Jaikishan's composition. With the advent of coloured films, majority of Rajender Kumar's films were shot at romantic locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and his costumes, the songs, the colour and location synchronised with each other in most of the films. His soft, romantic films in that age include Chirag Kahan Roshni kahan, Aman, Talash, etc.
His film Aye Milan Ki Bela, 1964, Jhuk Gaya Asman, 1968, opposite Saira Banu, involved soft romantic stories, but the charm of Rafi's songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan, like "to bura man gaye", "tum khamseen ho", "kaun hai jo sapno me aya" all had mesemerised the audience with romantic appeal. In Aarzoo, 1965, Rajender Kumar became handicapped by losing his leg, and tried to forget Sadhna whom he loved and never wanted to marry due to his disability, again the songs and the story telling impressed the viewers. Marriage was arranged with Feroz Khan, but he being a friend, ultimately helped Sadhna to marry Rajender Kumar. Rafi and Lata were at their best in Shankar Jaikishan's songs "aji ruth kar ab kaha jaiyega". Besides other songs like "chalke teri ankho se", "ai nargisi mastana" were all hits.
In the film Suraj, 1966, Rajender Kumar played a royal character being the prince who never knew his background and grew up as a dacoit and the enter film hovered around the theme of finding his actual heritage. His performance opposite Vaijayantimala was well appreciated by film lovers. There were musical competitions in the film with the song "kaise samjhayun bari nasamajh ho" where Lata and Rafi faced each other in classical contest. All the songs in the film composed by Shankar Jaikishan became successful including "baharon phool barsao", "itna hai tujhse pyar mujhe", "titli uri", etc.
Rajender Kumar acted in diversified subjects including relationship of poets in the film Palki, patriotic subject matters in the film Dharti, role of dacoits in Gora Aur Kala, etc. In the mid-seventies with the advent of action films, Rajender Kumar faded away from the film arena. His films at that period include Aap aye Bahar Aye, Do Jasoos, etc. He acted in character roles in few films where his son Kumar Gaurav played the central character. He did not receive the acclamation during the age for the strong dominance of Dilip Kumar who was unparallel in tragic roles and dominated the film world. His films should be preserved and restored in an archive to recollect the age when soft romantic films dominated bollywood.
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