Raaj Kumar (born Kulbhushan Pandit; 8 October 1926 3 July 1996) was an Indian actor who worked in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

films. He appeared in the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

-nominated 1957 film ''

Mother India ''Mother India'' is a 1957 Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. A remake of Khan's earlier film '' Aurat'' (1940), it is the story of a poverty-stricken village wom ...

'' and starred in over 70 Hindi films in a career that spanned over four decades.

Personal life

Kulbhushan Pandit was born in

Loralai Loralai ( ps, لورلايي, ur, ), also known as Bori ( ps, ), is the division headquarter of Loralai Division and district headquarter of Loralai District. It is in the northeast of Balochistan province in Pakistan. It is above sea level ...

, Baluchistan,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

) in a

Kashmiri Pandit The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region l ...

family. In the late 1940s, he moved to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

, where he became a sub-inspector under Bombay Police. He married Jennifer Pandit, an

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The '' Oxford English ...

, whom he met on a flight where she was an air hostess. She later changed her name to Gayatri Kumar as per Hindu customs. They had three children, sons

Puru Raaj Kumar Puru Raaj Kumar (born 30 March 1970) is an Indian actor who works in Bollywood films. He is the son of actor Raaj Kumar and is married to Croatian model Koraljika Grdak. Early life and education He was a student of Gettysburg College where h ...

(an actor), Panini Raaj Kumar 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 Sohrab Merwanji Modi (2 November 1897 – 28 January 1984) was an Indian stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include ''Khoon Ka Khoon'' (1935), a version of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'', '' Sikandar'', ''Pukar'', ''Prithvi Va ...

's ''

Nausherwan-E-Adil ''Nausherwan-E-Adil'' () also called ''Farz Aur Mohabbat'', is a 1957 Indian costume action drama Hindi/Urdu film directed by Sohrab Modi. Produced by Minerva Movietone, it had music composed by C. Ramchandra with lyrics by Parwaiz Shamshi. The ...

'' (1957) that he became famous. In 1957, he achieved prominence with his brief role as the husband of

Nargis Nargis Dutt (born Fatima Rashid; 1 June 1929 – 3 May 1981) was an Indian actress and politician who worked in Hindi cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she made her screen debut in a minor role ...

in ''

''. He also worked alongside

Shammi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced �ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards, winning in the categories of Best Actor for ...

in Ujala (1959). He followed this with the unglamorous role of a mill worker in '' Paigham'' (1959) alongside

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from ...

. In Sridhar's ''

Dil Ek Mandir ''Dil Ek Mandir'' () is a 1963 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by C. V. Sridhar and written by Raj Baldev Raj. The film stars Rajendra Kumar, Meena Kumari, Raaj Kumar and Mehmood. The film's music is by Shankar Jaikishan. ...

'' (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 Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian film director and film producer who worked in Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chopra was the recipient of ...

's family drama '' Waqt'' in 1965. He became known for his distinct style of dialogue delivery. His other notable films included ''

Hamraaz ''Hamraaz'' () is a 1967 Indian Bollywood suspense thriller film, produced and directed by B. R. Chopra and written by Akhtar-Ul-Iman. It stars Raaj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Vimi, Mumtaz in lead roles, with Balraj Sahni, Madan Puri, Jeevan, Iftekh ...

'' (1967), ''

Heer Raanjha ''Heer Raanjha'' is a 1970 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film directed by Chetan Anand and produced by his son Ketan Anand. The film stars Raaj Kumar, Priya Rajvansh, Pran, Prithviraj Kapoor, Ajit, Jayant, Sonia Sahni, Kamini ...

'' (1971), '' Maryada'' (1971), ''

Lal Patthar ''Lal Patthar'' is a 1971 Indian Hindi-language drama film, produced by F. C. Mehra, and directed by Sushil Majumdar. The film is a remake of the Bengali film, ''Lal Pathar'' which released in 1964. The film stars Raaj Kumar, Hema Malini, Raakh ...

'' (1971) and ''

Pakeezah ''Pakeezah'' (; ) is a 1972 Indian Hindustani language, Hindustani-language Musical film, musical romantic drama film that was written, directed, and produced by Kamal Amrohi. The film stars Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumari, and Raaj Kumar. It tells ...

'' (1972). After a period of flops in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he had notable successes as a supporting actor in ''

Kudrat ''Kudrat'' () is a 1981 Indian Hindi-language drama film, written and directed by Chetan Anand. The film stars Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini, supported by Raaj Kumar, Priya Rajvansh and Vinod Khanna. This is the second movie of the Rajesh Kh ...

'' (1981), '' Ek Nai Paheli'' (1984), '' Marte Dam Tak'' (1987), ''

Muqaddar Ka Faisla ''Muqaddar Ka Faisla'' () is a 1987 Hindi action film directed by Prakash Mehra and produced by Yash Johar. It stars Raaj Kumar, Raakhee, Raj Babbar, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Tina Munim in pivotal roles. Bappi Lahiri has composed the music for t ...

'' (1987) and ''

Jung Baaz ''Jungbaaz'' is a Hindi action drama movie directed by Mehul Kumar. It stars Raaj Kumar, Govinda, Mandakini in lead roles. The movie was remake of tamil film Jallikattu. Plot Cast *Raaj Kumar as Advocate KP Saxena *Moushumi Chatterjee as Mr ...

'' (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''.

Death

Kumar died at the age of 69 on 3 July 1996 due to

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

. According to his son

in his interview to Farhana Farook, his father suffered from Hodgkins for which he had chemotherapy. The last two years of his life were bad with the nodes recurring in the lungs and ribs.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Raaj Indian male film actors 1926 births 1996 deaths Male actors in Hindi cinema Police officers from Mumbai Male actors from Mumbai 20th-century Indian male actors Kashmiri people Indian Hindus Filmfare Awards winners