Manoj Kumar was born on the 24th of July, 1937 at Abbottabad which is now in Pakistan. He is a renowned Indian actor and director of the Indian film industry. Manoj Kumar is known for directing and acting in films based on patriotic themes. It is for this reason that he is popularly known as Mr. Bharat.
Manoj Kumar was born as Harikishen Goswami in Abbottabad, a town of the North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan. When Manoj Kumar was 10, his family had to move to India due to the partition.
As a youth, Manoj Kumar admired Bollywood superstar Dilip Kumar, and decided to name himself Manoj Kumar after Dilip's character in the 1949 hit Shabnam. He then decided to enter the film industry.
Manoj Kumar made his bollywood debut in a film called 'Fashion'. The movie was released in the year 1957. The movie did not do very well at the box office. In the year 1960 Manoj Kumar landed in his first leading role in 'Kaanch Ki Gudia' opposite famous actress Sayeeda Khan.
Movies like 'Reshmi Roomal' and 'Piya Milan Ki Aas' followed. It set the stage for the Vijay Bhatt directed 'Hariyali Aur Raasta' which was released in the year 1962. He starred in the movie opposite Mala Sinha.
Manoj Kumar then appeared with 1960s icon Sadhana in Raj Khosla's "Woh Kaun Thi" in the year 1964. Thereafter, he reunited with Vijay Bhatt and Mala Sinha in Himalaya Ki God Mein in 1965.
Manoj Kumar's image as the patriotic hero begun with the 1965 film 'Shaheed', which was based on the life of Bhagat Singh who sacrificed his life in the struggle for India's freedom.
With the memories of the Indo-Pak War still fresh in everyone's mind, the then Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri asked him to make a film based on Shastri's popular slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kissan" (Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer).
This resulted into Manoj Kumar's magnum opus his debut directorial venture, 'Upkar' which was released in the year 1967. In it, he managed to convincingly play both a soldier and a farmer.
The film was also made famous by the song "Mere Desh Ki Dharti". The lyrics of the song were written by Gulshan Bawra. The music was composed by Kalyanji-Anandji and it was sung by Mahendra Kapoor.
Upkar was a huge hit. The film won Manoj Kumar his first Filmfare Best Director Award. The film won many other prestigious awards. Some of his other popular directorial ventures include the likes of 'Purab Aur Paschim', 'Shor', 'Clerk' and 'Kranti'. Manoj Kumar was an actor and director of extra ordinary caliber.
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