Today, the great actor of Hindi cinema Manoj Kumar died at the age of 87. Manoj Kumar was a popular actor and director of Hindi cinema. Manoj Kumar was specially known for the production of patriotic films. He produced many magnificent films like Kranti, East and West, Upkar, Shaheed, which settled in the hearts of the Indian public. The public gave so much love to Manoj Kumar that he named him “Bharat Kumar”. The story of Manoj Kumar becoming Bharat Kumar is also interesting.
Initially, Manoj Kumar had no intention of making a film on Bhagat Singh. However, Bhagat Singh was a hero of his childhood and wanted to know more about him. In this search, he would go to Delhi and Amritsar and do hours of research in the Hindu newspaper library in Madras.
The film received the Best Hindi Film and National Award for National Unity. Manoj Kumar also called Bhagat Singh’s mother for this ceremony.
When actor David announced the Neshanal Award from the stage, Bhagat Singh’s mother Vidyavati was called and the entire hall was echoed with applause. Manoj Kumar told in an old interview how Indira Gandhi came and touched Bhagat Singh’s mother’s feet.
The then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri himself came to Delhi for the screening of the film martyr. During the feast at his house, Shastri ji told Manoj Kumar that I have a slogan, Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan- I want you to make a film on it.
That thing of Lal Bahadur Shastri went home in Manoj Kumar’s mind. In the morning, when he sat in the train from Delhi, he sat with him with a pen and diary. This anecdote is famous that when the train reached Bombay Central, Manoj Kumar had the story of the film Upkar.
Manoj Kumar not only acted in Upkar but also directed for the first time. He received the Best Director, Best Film, Best Story and Best Dialogue Award from Filmfare for the first time, as well as the National Award as well as National Award.
Manoj Kumar’s real name was Harikishan Goswami. The story of his becoming Manoj Kumar is also interesting. In Bachpan, Harikishin saw Dilip Kumar (1949 )’s film ‘Shabnam’. In that film, Dilip Kumar’s name was Manoj Kumar. Since childhood, he liked both the world of films and Manoj Kumar. Manoj Kumar came to Mumbai with the inspiration of actor Dilip Kumar and made up his mind to work in films.
When actor Amitabh Bachchan was thinking about leaving Mumbai and returning to Delhi, Manoj Kumar stopped Amitabh and gave a chance in his film ‘Roti, Clour and House’. Even when people were taunting Amitabh due to failure, Manoj Kumar was confident that Manoj Kumar was confident that Amitabh Bachchan would become a big star. “