The All-Rounder

Manoj Kumar was just nine years old when his family was uprooted by Partition from his Punjab village named Jandyala Sher Khan. Manoj saw terrible bloodshed and went through mental trauma with his family,which put up for two long years at the Kingsway Refugee Camp on the outskirts of Delhi. “Every morning I had to trudge two kilometers to get milk,and another two in the opposite direction to get bread! Anything emotional or touching in my scripts was exclusively born from these experiences. My approach to characterisation is a by-product of these memories. I missed schooling for two years. And by the time we settled and I resumed school in Delhi,my fondness for films had been established.”

But Mr Bharat,as he came to be called,was not a by-product of that phase. “I had named my hero Ram in Upkar as he was noble,an ideal son and a maryada-purshottam. But then I thought,‘He is a farmer,and the real India lives in the villages,so I renamed him Bharat,” says the actor. “I saw no reason to change the name in Purab Aur Pacchim,which was about an adarsh Indian youth who goes abroad for further studies. And then came Roti Kapada Aur Makaan. Shor was,of course,an exception.”

The journey to cinema

Manoj Kumar’s cousin,Lekhraj Bhakri,was making films in Mumbai. “It’s strange how these dates get linked to me but on January 26,1956,he had come to Delhi for the premiere of his film Tangewali starring Shammi Kapoor!” smiles Manoj. “I was 18 and when we met at the premiere he said,“Arre yaar,tum to bilkul hero lagte ho!” and I replied,“To banaa dijiye!”

But it was not so simple. The shy Manoj was afraid of his father,though he was very open-minded. One day,his father asked him,“I have been getting these letters from Lekhraj. Do you want to become an actor?” When Manoj timidly nodded,his father suggested that he think about all the aspects for two months,after which he would respect any decision his son took. He kept his word and on October 9,1956,Manoj left Delhi.

His first break was again linked to deshbhakti: “I played a mendicant in a song cameo in my cousin’s Fashion (1957). The words were Maati ko lajaana nahin mera desh hai mahaan,” recalls Manoj. Lyricist Bharat Vyas even told Bhakri,“Your beggar does not look like a beggar but like a hero!” After this,Manoj acted in Homi Sethna’s documentary Gangu Teli in the title-role and in a few scenes in Bhakri’s Sahara,Chand and Panchayat. Bhakri was to give him lead roles only later,like Maa Beta and Banarasi Thug.

Some months later,Ramesh Saigal decided to screen-test four men for Shola Aur Shabnam and Picnic,which he was planning. “Dharmendra and I were two of them. Dharam did Shola Aur Shabnam and I did Picnic,in which lyricist Anand Bakshi even had a major role,though he did not write any song!” says Manoj,who struck up a fast friendship with both. “Dharam and I did Shaadi,Mera Naam Joker and Maidan-E-Jung later,but Anand Bakshi and I somehow did not work much together – there was Sajan,some songs in Himalay Ki God Mein and finally Deshwasi.”

As it happened,Picnic got delayed and released years later. But Rajendra Kumar recommended him to H.S.Rawail,who introduced Manoj in his first lead role,Kanch Ki Gudiya opposite Sayeeda Khan. The film flopped,but the fact that he had been signed by the leading filmmaker got him six assignments including Reshmi Rumal directed by Ashok Bhatt. Says Manoj,“Ashok’s uncle,the famous Vijay Bhatt,would often be called on the sets for advice. And he signed me for Hariyali Aur Rasta,my first jubilee,opposite Mala Sinha.” Later they worked in the super-hit Himalay Ki God Mein.

The ‘ultimate’ creative area

Manoj then made a crucial decision: that despite needing work and money he would first check the setup before accepting any film. “So I accepted S.S.Vasan’s Grihasti but rejected N.N.Sippy’s Woh Kaun Thi?,” recalls the actor. “I was married and about eight months later my son Vishal was born. Nari Sippy actually came to the maternity hospital and said,‘Look,you have now got a son. You need the money. Accept my film,and we will do the setup together.’”

But while Sippy and the film’s director Raj Khosla were big names,Sadhana had faced some flops and Manoj had an erratic innings. “Raj Khosla suggested Sadhana’s name and said,‘Why not take her? Two negatives might make a positive!’” recalls the actor.

And Woh Kaun Thi? proved a whopping hit in 1963 and became the ticket to stardom for the lead pair. Early during the making of the film,when the unit was in Shimla for some songs and sequences,Manoj was not happy with the scenes. “I rewrote many of them,and one evening I showed my work to Rajji,” Manoj remembers. “He did not say a word,just took the file and went away and shortly returned with Nari Sippy and simply told him,‘There is my dialogue writer.’ I ended up rewriting the dialogues for most of the film!”

On a parallel track,Manoj had already penned a script on Bhagat Singh. “Not many are aware that I would professionally ghost-write three or four scenes every week for different films and be paid Rs 11 per scene!” says Manoj. “And Bhagat Singh was my dream character as an actor. My secretary and friend Kewal P. Kashyap was keen on turning producer and he read my script and was adamant that he would make it,even though there was no heroine!”

Shaheed (1965) was an instant hit,and was appreciated by critics. “At a particular point in the film,the director was at a loss how to proceed. I took over and shot a few scenes. And that’s when I realised,‘This is it! This is the ultimate creative area,the real job!’

Manoj’s dream was consolidated when a special screening of Shaheed was held for Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. “He loved the film and asked me,‘Why don’t you make a film on Jai Jawaan Jai Kisaan?’ That was Shastriji’s clarion call in those days. His words inspired me. On my 24-hour rail journey back to Mumbai,I wrote the story of Upkar (1967). Sadly Shastriji never lived to watch the film,which was a massive hit and won the President’s Gold Medal,which was what the National award for Best Film was called then.”

Manoj decided to direct the film himself. “Friends discouraged me and said,‘Everyone can’t be Raj Kapoor. You are doing fine as a hero!’ But I took the plunge!” smiles the star.

By that time,Manoj had also acted in multiple successful films like Ghar Basake Dekho,Apne Huye Paraye,Himalay Ki God Mein,Do Badan,Sawan Ki Ghata and Gumnaam.

The King Midas

The filmmaker Manoj Kumar soon began to be called King Midas as he could do no wrong. Purab Aur Pacchim (1971),Shor (1972) and Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974) were all blockbusters. Manoj also was approached by a Sai Baba organisation in Shirdi to make a film on the saint-poet who also represented an integrating force. “I was already a Sai Baba bhakt. I wrote Shirdi Ke Sai Baba (1977) and my brother-in-law Ashok Bhushan directed it. I even wrote two of the songs,Sainath tere hazaaron haath and Sai Baba bolo,for they just flowed. The first song was written in seven minutes,” smiles Manoj.

After the blockbuster success of Kranti (1981),Manoj seemed to lose steam. “It was not so!” smiles Manoj gently. “My next production to launch my brother Rajiv as actor,Painter Babu,did not do well only in Mumbai,so it was labelled a flop. Kalyug Aur Ramayan was a solid story that the censors mauled,but it still broke even. And my last film Jai Hind (1999) on Kashmiri Pandits,which was delayed by one of the actresses in the film and was a hot topic in 1993 when I launched it,still made money for its distributors.”

Manoj stresses that his only flop was Clerk. “It failed because of the fake climax that I wrote,so I cannot blame anyone!” In the 1980s and 1990s,Manoj did work that was of interest to trivia hunters. He presented the film and enacted a cameo in his brother Rajiv’s debut as producer and director,Deshwasi; he wrote (including lyrics) his son Kunal’s starring vehicle Ricky that never released and in which Vishal Goswami sang all the hero’s songs; he acted in a special cameo under presenter L.V. Prasad’s direction in Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye directed by T.Rama Rao and wrote lyrics for films like Kalakaar (starring son Kunal Goswami),Dharmesh Darshan’s Lootere and Anil Sharma’s Tehelka. Maidan-E-Jung (1995) was his last film as actor.

His delayed films Amaanat (1978) and Santosh (1989,for which he also wrote a few songs) were flops,but even as an actor Manoj Kumar had a very high percentage of successes after Upkar. Neel Kamal,Patthar Ke Sanam,Sajan,Yaadgar,Dus Numbri and his famous trilogy with Sohanlal Kanwar,Pehchan,Beimaan and Sanyasi were all super-hits as against just three flops,Aadmi,Mera Naam Joker and Balidaan.

Mera Naam Joker,however,evokes very fond memories

of Raj Kapoor in Manoj. “For the first chapter that starred Rishi Kapoor,Simi Garewal and me,I also worked with Rajji as a writer – the solah baras concept and philosophy were mine,and Rajji was big-hearted enough to mention to many people in the film industry that I had a hand in shaping the screenplay,” recollects Manoj.

The clear-cut approach

The filmmaker,who is widely appreciated for his technical wizardry,says,“My very good friend (writer) Salim Khan asked me to guide his son Sohail when he was starting out as a director. And I told Sohail just one thing,‘Direction is that jo paper pe nahin hota!’ I can never understand directors who say that they plan their shot divisions at home. I relish Mrinal Sen’s statement that a good director writes a film with his camera. You have to go beyond the script into another audiovisual dimension.”

An admirer of Raj Kapoor,V Shantaram,Satyajit Ray and Guru Dutt,Manoj admits to the last-mentioned filmmaker’s influence on his song-conception and filming. “Guru Dutt’s influence on me was tremendous. A song had to be a scene from a film that was told differently.” He is modest about his terrific musical acumen but gives maximum credits to his music directors Kalyanji-Anandji and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. “Today,Uttam Singh understands me,” he states.

Explaining his success at every department,he says,“First I consciously make my mind blank and forget my previous film. A story can strike you from anywhere and at any time. When I go on the floors,the director in me discards my brilliantly-written scene if it is not necessary for the film. As film editor next,I ruthlessly edit in the interests of both the film and the audience,never caring for the efforts of the writer,director and actor or for the money spent by producer Manoj Kumar. Only the final product matters!”

Does he watch films today? “I do,but very few touch the soul or have substance. There is no music either. There are good actors and some good directors though.”

From patient to doctor

Manoj is also known as an expert homoeopath and credits this to Ashok Kumar. “Dadamoni cured warts that had suddenly appeared on my face and could have ruined my career,” he recalls. “I would get them cauterised but they would reappear. He asked me a few silly-sounding questions and popped a few pills in my mouth. Within a week the warts fell off on their own and I never got them again! So I began to study the science,sat for a while with top homoeopaths and then practiced it successfully too.”

Future plans

A section of the press has declared that Manoj is planning a film with Priyanka Chopra. “Well,my music is ready,and it’s what I call a peculiar love story. Priyanka has liked a narration,but has not signed as yet. I have always been writing scripts,but everything should fall into place. What I am doing is more important than whether I am doing something!”

rajiv.vijayakar@expressindia.com