The star kid got a Saiyaara-like launch in the 1980s, but faded soon despite best efforts from legendary father to revive his career

However, Kumar Gaurav couldn’t really capitalize on the success of Love Story. He followed it up with AC Tirulokchandar’s 1982 romance Teri Kasam opposite Poonam Dhillon. He reunited with Burman and Kumar, but couldn’t really recreate the magic of their previous collaboration. The box office numbers were also not up to the mark.

Rajendra Kumar then tried redeeming his son’s career with Vinod Pande’s Star (1982), which featured music from Pakistani sensations Nazia Hassan and Zoheb Hassan. But that film also paled in comparison to the mega, unexpected success of Love Story. Gaurav’s next few films followed the same fate — Lovers, Romance (1983), Hum Hain Lajawab, All-rounder (1984), Ek Se Bhale Do, Janam (1985), and Begaana (1986).

Kumar Gaurav bounced back momentarily when he ventured out of the romance genre with Mahesh Bhatt’s 1986 crime thriller Naam. While he received unanimous praise, it was the lead actor — Sanjay Dutt — who walked away with all the glory. Gaurav then went back into familiar territory of romantic films, appearing in a few more duds like Dil Tujhko Diya (1987), Goonj (1989), and Hai Meri Jaan (1991).

Even reuniting with Mahesh Bhatt for Aaj (1987) or trying a new genre (action) with David Dhawan’s Jurrat (1990), Ravi Chopra’s Pratigyabadh, and KV Raju’s Indrajeet (1991), and a new medium (television) with Siyaasat (1992) didn’t wield great results. Rajendra Kumar then put all his might into producing Singeetam Srinivasa Rao’s Phool (1993), which starred Gaurav alongside two legends — his father and his father-in-law Sunil Dutt. But even that movie tanked at the box office.

A couple of delayed releases, like Sautela Bhai (1996) and Gang (2000), only made the matters worse for Kumar Gaurav. His final Hindi film till date remains Sanjay Gupta’s 2002 action thriller Kaante. Post that, he did try his luck in a couple of Hollywood films — Guiana 1838 (2004) and the 2009 silent movie My Daddy Strongest — but even those didn’t help much. Gaurav eventually submitted to his destiny and started a successful construction business.

“I regret nothing. Stardom was a blessing and I’m thankful for it. But I enjoy my peace now,” Gaurav later told Subhash K Jha in an interview. Gaurav comes from a rich film family, that extends beyond his late father. His mother Shukla Devi Tuli was the sister of late film producer Ramesh Behl, the father of producer Srishti Behl and filmmaker Goldie Behl, who’s married to actor Sonali Bendre.

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Kumar Gaurav was briefly engaged to late legendary filmmaker Raj Kapoor’s daughter Reema Kapoor, but the engagement was eventually called off. He also dated Vijayta Pandit, his first leading lady. Gaurav then married Sanjay Dutt’s sister Namrata Dutt. They have two daughters, one of whom, Saachi Kumar, is married to Pakeezah director Kamal Amrohi’s grandson Bilal Amrohi.