A whistling train dissolving into the brooding night, a slumber-kissed Meena Kumari cradled in it. A stranger, a co-traveller, mesmerised by her exquisite feet leaves behind a note, which reads, “Aapke paon... bahut haseen hain. Inhe zameen pe mat utariyega. Maile ho jaayenge!” Even 40 years later, the dialogue rendered by the late Raaj Kumar in Kamal Amrohi’s classic Pakeezah (1972) is listed among Hindi cinema’s most romantic moments.
Raaj Kumar was born on 8th October 1926 in Loralai, Balochistan, British India in a Kashmiri Pandit family. In the late 1940s he moved to Mumbai, India where he became Sub-inspector of the Mumbai Police. He married Jennifer, an Anglo-Indian, whom he met on a flight where she was the air hostess. She later changed her name to Gayatri as per Hindu customs.
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’s Nausherwan-E-Adil (1957) that he became famous. In 1957, he achieved prominence with his brief role as the husband of Nargis in Mother India. He followed this with the unglamorous role of a mill worker in Paigham (1959) alongside Dilip Kumar. He was cast with Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor and Balraj Sahni in Yash Chopra’s family drama Waqt. In Sridhar’s Dil Ek Mandir, Raaj Kumar played the role of a cancer patient for which he won the Filmfare Award in the Best Supporting actor category for movies Dil Ek Mandir and Waqt. His other notable films included Hamraaz (1967), Heer Raanjha (1971), Lal Patthar (1971) and Pakeezah (1972). He acted in fewer films by the mid 1970s and became a character actor in the 1980s with films like Kudrat (1981), Ek Nai Paheli (1984), Marte Dam Tak (1987), Muqaddar Ka Faisla (1987) and Jung Baaz (1989). In 1991, he reunited with Dilip Kumar after 32 years in Subhash Ghai's Saudagar and appeared in the 1992 hit film Tirangaa. His last film appearance was in 1995's God & Gun.
From his screen debut in Rangili in 1952 to his last film God & Gun in 1995, he played memorable characters in 60-odd films.
He died of throat cancer at the age of 69 on 3 July 1996.
Raaj Kumar's Famous Dialogues
“Jaani, hum tumhein maarenge… par bandook bhi hamari hogi, goli bhi hamari hogi aur waqt bhi
hamara hoga!” (Saudagar)
“Na talwaar ki dhaar se, na goliyon ki bauchaar se… banda darta hai to sirf parvardigaar se.”
(Tiranga)
“Chinai seth, chhuri bachhon ke khelne kee cheez nahin hoti, haath kat jaye to khoon nikal aata hai.”
(Waqt)
Filmfare Awards
Best Supporting Actor Dil Ek Mandir (1963)
Best Supporting Actor Waqt (1965)
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