Rajendra Kumar was known as the 'Jubilee Kumar' in Bollywood.Watching a film in a theatre is nothing less than an event today. With ticket prices shooting through the roof, the audience comes in expecting guaranteed entertainment, and a good time at the cinemas. Sixty years ago, movie viewing was just as special albeit for different reasons. Amid limited modes of entertainment, a day at the cinemas was the obvious choice for millions of middle-class Indians. But that doesn’t mean everything worked at the marquee, audience retained their right to vote with their feet. It was in this era that Rajendra Kumar emerged as the star with the Midas touch.
Rajendra Kumar was known as ‘Jubilee Kumar’ in the 1960s and there was a special reason for that. The audience of today might not be familiar with the concept of ‘silver jubilees’ but a film celebrating its ‘silver jubilee’ used to be a big deal back in the day. This was a term used for films that completed a run of 25 weeks in the theatre. Even more special was a run of 50 weeks, known as ‘golden jubilee’. Rajendra Kumar earned himself the nickname of ‘Jubilee Kumar’ because for a few years in the 1960s, all his films were ‘silver jubilee’. Producers believed that he was lucky, and had a knack for choosing the right scripts as whatever he chose to be a part of was a success in the cinemas.
He got his first big hit in Mehboob Khan’s Mother India but the success of that film was attributed to Nargis, and for the right reasons. Rajendra Kumar’s streak of hits started with 1959’s Dhool Ka Phool and was followed by up films like Gharana, Dil Ek Mandir, Mere Mehboob, Sangam, Ayee Milan Ki Bela, Arzoo, Suraj, Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan, Talash and Ganwaar, making him one of the most successful actors on the box office.
Such were the stories of his ‘luck’ that Rajesh Khanna bought Rajendra Kumar’s bungalow believing that it would be just as lucky for him, as it was for the Sangam star. The famous Rajesh Khanna mansion, which he named Aashirvaad, was previously owned by Rajendra Kumar and was known as ‘Dimple’. Khanna requested Kumar to sell him the bungalow and while Kumar sold it to him, he forbade him from using the name ‘Dimple’ as it was named after his daughter. Khanna too was interested in the name ‘Dimple’ as he had just gotten married to Dimple Kapadia but happily obliged the veteran actor.
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Rajendra Kumar, in his later years, launched his son Kumar Gaurav in the movies with Love Story. He produced a few other films including Mahesh Bhatt’s Naam, which starred Sanjay Dutt with his son. The veteran actor passed away in 1999 in his sleep.
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