1949–1962: Rise to prominence After beginning his acting career with small roles in
Patanga (1949) and
Jogan (1950), Rajendra Kumar appeared as a main lead in
Devendra Goel's
Vachan (1955) alongside
Geeta Bali. The film emerged a hit and made him a known face. This was followed by
Mehboob Khan's
epic drama film
Mother India (1957), where he played
Nargis's eldest son. It opened to excellent audience response and went on to become an
All Time Blockbuster at the box office along with being the highest-grossing film of the 1957.
Mother India went on to win several accolades, including the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film (Hindi) and was also featured in the book
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Kumar shot to stardom in 1959 with three back-to-back hits. He first appeared in
Vijay Bhatt's
romantic musical Goonj Uthi Shehnai. It performed very well at the box office and proved to be a superhit. His next release
Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan was also hit at the box office and
Yash Chopra's directional debut, the
romantic social drama Dhool Ka Phool, which went on to become a blockbuster as well as one of the highest earners of the year. One of its song "Tu Hindu Banega Na Musalman Banega", sung by
Mohammed Rafi was a huge hit. The following year, he co-starred alongside
Ashok Kumar and
Nanda in
B. R. Chopra's
courtroom drama Kanoon. The film had no songs, however, it became a hit and went on to win
National Film Award for Best Feature Film (Hindi). 1961 was the best year of Kumar's career with many successes. His first release, the
drama film
Zindagi aur Khwab opposite
Meena Kumari was a critical and commercial hit. He then appeared in
Mohan Kumar's
Aas Ka Panchhi opposite
Vyjayanthimala and
S. S. Vasan's
Gharana opposite
Asha Parekh, both of them where became blockbusters. This was followed by another major hit in
Sasural and a moderate success in
Pyaar Ka Saagar.
1963–1968: Superstardom In 1963, Kumar's first release was
C. V. Sridhar's
romantic drama Dil Ek Mandir co-starring
Raaj Kumar and Meena Kumari. The film opened to highly positive response from critics and emerged as a blockbuster with Kumar receiving his first nomination in the
Filmfare Award for Best Actor category. The huge success of
Dil Ek Mandir was followed by a hit in
O. P. Ralhan's
Gehra Daag. The film topped the box office chart in 1963 and was given the verdict of
All Time Blockbuster by the end of its run. Its soundtrack composed by
Naushad dominated the musical charts and was the second best-selling Hindi film album of the 1960s. With continuous flow of hits from 1959 onwards and many of his films running for a minimum 25 weeks (silver jubilee), Kumar earned the sobriquet of
Jubilee Kumar and emerged as a
Superstar. In 1964, he delivered three major successes. His first release that year was Mohan Kumar's
Ayee Milan Ki Bela co-starring
Saira Banu and
Dharmendra. It continued the success streak of Kumar and proved to be a superhit with receiving a nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Actor. This was followed by
Raj Kapoor's magnum opus
Sangam opposite Vyjayanthimala. It received widespread acclaim, with high praise for its novel concept, direction, dialogue, costumes and performances of the cast, and is widely considered as
Hindi cinema's greatest
love triangle. At the box office, it emerged as an
All Time Blockbuster and the second highest-grossing film of the 1960s behind
Mughal-E-Azam. The music of
Sangam was a huge chartbuster with songs which became popular like "Dost Dost Na Raha", "Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega", "Bol Radha Bol", "Yeh Mera Prem Patra" and emerged as the best-selling Hindi film album of the 1960s. The mega success of
Ayee Milan Ki Bela and
Sangam was followed by another superhit in
Ramanand Sagar's second directional venture
Zindagi. The next year, Kumar reunited with Ramanand Sagar for the romantic drama
Arzoo opposite
Sadhana. The film did very well both critically and commercially, eventually became a blockbuster as well as one of the
highest-grossing films of 1965. Owing to his subtle performance of a handicapped, Kumar received his third nomination for
Filmfare Award for Best Actor which also turned out to be his last. In 1966, he starred in
T. Prakash Rao's big-budget
swashbuckler Ruritanian romance Suraj. The film backed up with superhit songs, including ""Baharon Phool Barsao", sung by Rafi and "Titli Udi Ud Jo Chali", a solo by
Sharda, went on to become a massive blockbuster and Kumar's sixth consecutive hit.
Saathi despite featuring some of the biggest stars of the time did average business, while
Jhuk Gaya Aasman ended up as a box office flop upon release, but did well in re-runs later and attained
cult status owing to its unique storyline and music.
1969–1980: Further works as a lead In 1969,
Rajesh Khanna gained nationwide success with his blockbusters
Aradhana and
Do Raaste. With Khanna’s rise, Kumar’s career began to lose some of its earlier momentum. In 1969, he had three releases -
Anjaana,
Shatranj,
Talash.
Anjaana and
Talash were successful but
Shatranj didn't do well at the box office. In 1970, Kumar continued to deliver hits in Ramanand Sagar's
Geet opposite
Mala Sinha and his brother Naresh Kumar's
Ganwaar opposite Vyjayanthimala. His other releases, including C. V. Sridhar's
Dharti and Raj Kapoor's
Mera Naam Joker, in which he played a small role, failed commercially. The next year, his sole release and final collaboration with Mohan Kumar took place for the romantic drama
Aap Aye Bahaar Ayee opposite Sadhana and
Prem Chopra. The film backed up with melodious songs composed by
Laxmikant–Pyarelal like "Mujhe Teri Mohabbat Ka Sahara", "Aap Aye Bahaar Ayee" and "Tumko Bhi To Aisa Kuchh Hota", were box office hit. A remake of
Tamil mega hit
Neerum Neruppum, was successful venture in
Hindi and emerged a blockbuster as well as the fifth highest grossing film of the year. He then collaborated with Dharmendra and Mala Sinha for Ramanand Sagar's
war action film
Lalkar.
Lalkar was one of the costliest films of its time, but managed to do average at the box office. Following a brief hiatus, Kumar appeared in
Adurthi Subba Rao's
Sunehra Sansar (1975) and Naresh Kumar's
Do Jasoos (1975), both of which performed well commercially. The film was a huge blockbuster and one of the biggest hits of the year. Its soundtrack composed by
R. D. Burman was highly successful and the second best-selling Hindi film album of the 1980s. But
Love Story proved to be the only huge successful film of his son's career. Afterwards, Kumar did a guest appearance in another film with his son
Star (1982) and took up supporting roles in few films like
Lovers (1983),
Main Tere Liye (1988),
Clerk (1989) but none of them were successful. In 1993, Kumar gave his last appearance in
Singeetam Srinivasa Rao's
action drama Phool, which he also produced. It opened to negative response from critics and didn't perform well commercially. ==Death==