Sanjeev Kumar remains an enigma. The Surat-born veteran actor and his films of choice can be studied even today to understand how the performances and the brilliant storytelling can create history. Perhaps millennials remember him from Sholay, the movie that tells his parents about his young age, an age they call Golden. But films like Aankhen and Sita and Geeta reveal a whole new side to him which undoubtedly made him stand above the rest. On Saturday, his nephews Uday Jariwala and Rita Ramamurthy Gupta released his biography, titled Sanjeev Kumar, Actor We All Loved.
Revealing, Ramamurthy said, “I conceived the book in 2018 simply because I was shocked to learn that no one has made a book about him.” I had to write this book – this movie is on Martin Scorsese’s list of 40 Movies You Must See Before You Die. She remembers that when she was a child her father used to sing her songs. “My father used to sing ‘Thande cold water se nahna chahiye’ – that is Smriti. Much later I registered that the song was picturized on Sanjeev Kumar.”
For Jariwala, the project was an attempt to take the real Sanjeev Kumar out of the rumours and bring his human side to the reader. “I just wanted people to know what kind of person he was in real life. There are so many gossips, rumours about him, I wanted people to know who Sanjeev Kumar really was. He is a superstar, he was very grounded and very simple in life. He never had any hangups or such. Stay home, be on shoots, especially outdoor shoots was his routine,” he says.
Anil Kapoor, who released the book, remembers going to a theater to watch ‘Sunghursh’. “The great Dilip Kumar sahab acted in the film. By the time I came out, I was thinking ‘Who was this other actor in the movie?’ Then I came to know that it was Sanjeev Kumar sahab. I have been his fan ever since. I have seen all his films.”
Jariwala says that hardly a day goes by when he does not think about Sanjeev Kumar. “I miss him every day. We have so many lovely memories of him. I remember the most cherished one was the one who took us to see movies based on Charlie Chaplin or the kids that would come out. He took us there.” He used to take time off from work to pick us up.He used to take us on drives without any driver, staff etc.
read all breaking news, today’s fresh newswatch top videos And live TV Here.